One of the greatest figures in Hindi literature . . . [Agyeya] played a vital role in popularizing the language'--The Hindu

On the night before he is to be hanged as a political prisoner, Shekhar finds himself drawn into a vortex of scattered memories--flashes of childhood angst and youthful love amidst days of high idealism and constant struggle against the British Raj. Enveloped by his past and wracked by a tumult of emotions, he muses on the philosophical questions that have consumed him and the ideological fervour that has led him to his inevitable fate. And as the appointed hour approaches, he must reconcile himself with who he has become and what he truly stands for.

Regarded as one of the most influential Hindi novels of all time, Shekhar powerfully reimagines the journey of an outspoken young underground revolutionary in pre-Independence India. This sparkling new translation brings to life the psychological acuity and literary richness of Agyeya's most profound work.