'Spies, Lies and Allies' recalls two forgotten pre-Independence stories

Spies, Lies and Allies is more than a biography-it reminds us of two extraordinary lives from the pre-Independence era and why their stories, their mistakes, and their erasure matter

Spies, Lies and Allies: The Extraordinary Lives of Chatto and Roy

Author: Kavitha Rao

Publisher: Westland Non-fiction

Pages: 272

Price: Rs 499

  Somerset Maugham writes in his story, Guila Lazzari, on Chatto, “He is the most dangerous conspirator in or out of India. He’s done more harm than all the rest of them put together. You know that there’s a gang of these Indians in Berlin; well, he’s the brains of it. If he could be got out of the way, I could afford to ignore these others.”

 

What are the true markings of an extraordinary life? Must it reshape the world like