HarperCollins brings back timeless classics from eminent post-Independence writer Manohar Malgonkar!

sagiri.dixit@harpercollins.co.in | 8 August 2022

HarperCollins Publishers India is proud to present the stunning new editions of timeless reads by Manohar Malgonkar. A remarkable storyteller and a keen observer of social and political realities, Malgonkar occupies an important place in the canon of Indian literature in English, on par with pioneers like Mulk Raj Anand, Khushwant Singh and R.K. Narayan. Some of his major works that will be available this year are: The Sea Hawk: Life and Battles of Kanhoji Angrey in August, A Bend in the Ganges in September, The Devil’s Wind: Nana Saheb’s Story and The Princes in October. Long out of print, these essential classics will be available in an exciting new look with a new Introduction for a new generation of readers.

‘One of India’s most exuberant storytellers.’ — The New York Times (1965)

Manohar Malgonkar (1913-2010) was an eminent post-Independence writer whom R.K. Narayan once referred to as his ‘favourite Indian novelist in English’. Born near Belgaum, Malgonkar was the grandson of the prime minister of a former princely state of Dewas. He served in the army during World War II, was a big-game hunter, a farmer, a mine owner and an adventurer. Later, he started working as a journalist and thereafter took to book writing. His works are as diverse as his personal life and have a blend of history, romance and military life. His major works include The Men Who Killed Gandhi, A Bend in the Ganges, Spy in Amber, The Sea Hawk, Shalimar, The Princes and The Devil’s Wind. Many of his works have been translated into several languages in India and abroad.

Poulomi Chatterjee, Publisher at HarperCollins Publishers India, says ‘Manohar Malgonkar was an absolute legend – a versatile, inventive master-storyteller, who used his craft brilliantly to bring to life historical periods, events and personalities. HarperCollins is delighted to be bringing back his work in sparkling new editions for generations of new readers to rediscover him.’

Ridhima Kumar, Commissioning Editor at HarperCollins Publishers India, says, ‘It’s hard to believe that an entire generation never got a chance to read essential classics by Manohar Malgonkar. We feel so thrilled to be making these books available for everyone to read again. These must-read classics have never looked so good before!’

The Sea Hawk: Life and Battles of Kanhoji Angrey

‘It is both authentic history and rip-roaring tale. Conflict—the soul of drama—is also the soul of this story. The story is constructed in short, sharp chapters, often ending with a hook that compels us to turn the page.’—From the Introduction by Shanta Gokhale

 Praise for The Sea Hawk

‘This is the swashbuckling tale of Kanhoji Angrey, the seventeenth-century admiral who took on the British and the Dutch, by master storyteller Manohar Malgonkar. It’s wonderful to see this classic revived sixty-five years after its original write.’—Pritish Nandy, poet,  journalist and maker of films

‘The Sea Hawk is the story of the late Maratha fighter narrated by one of the master storytellers of our times Manohar Malgonkar. The captivating real-life fiction is a must-read for students of history and the common man alike. It’s a tribute to one of our unsung heroes.’— Girish Kuber, author and editor, Loksatta

‘This lively and well written account of a famous Maratha naval commander … sweeps the reader along at a rattling pace.’—The Times Literary Supplement, London

‘Very readable … full of historical information.’—The Times of India

‘A book of historical biography so skillfully done.’—All India Radio

‘A rare combination of history and literature.’—The Hindu

A Bend in the Ganges

‘Though A Bend in the Ganges is often read as a Partition novel, it should be mentioned that it sweeps across a much wider swathe of history—embracing Gandhiji’s Civil Disobedience movement of the 1930s, the fate of prisoners exiled across the Kala Pani to the meticulous brutality of the Cellular Jail in the Andamans, the long march that killed thousands in the exodus from Burma in 1942, before culminating in Partition.’—From the Introduction by Nilanjana S. Roy

Praise for A Bend in the Ganges

‘A Bend in the Ganges is one of the three best novels of 1964.’ — E.M. Forster

‘Manohar Malgonkar is a master of details. Never once, in the sprawling plot of A Bend in the Ganges does he lose sight of the individuality or agency of each character. In fact, he creates a delicate web of personal lives entrenched within the political framework of a nation at the brink of independence, against the backdrop of the Second World War. Having witnessed Partition, he brings its visceral reality on to the page. I have now read A Bend in the Ganges three times in my life, discovering nuances with every reading. It is the kind of book one returns to again and again, making it that quintessential thing—a classic.’—Aanchal Malhotra, author and oral historian

‘Here is a classic. A novel of epic proportions about the historic yet tragic years in the life of India as it once was and never was to be again. Malgonkar paints, on a big canvas, a picture of India during the Quit India years and the Partition. He has a miniaturist’s eyes and an architect’s grand vision. As it swings from Punjab to the Andamans to Bombay and Delhi on to the two sides of the border, you are captured into a fascinating net of the author’s working. A great novel, and an even greater thriller.’ —Meghnad Desai, author and economist

‘A novel could not convincingly contain more violence than this tale of the subcontinent during the past quarter of a century. It is not likely that we shall be given a more revealing, a more sanely balanced, or a more terrifying account of those years. The paradox of life is there, and out of it the author has made a work of art.’—The Bookman

‘His novels are conceived on a large scale, they are full of action, they are exciting stories. They are also valuable documents.’—The Times Literary Supplement, London

‘All is done vividly and the author has grafted the political and social background with a surgeon’s skill on to moving emotional situations.’—The Sunday Times

The Devil’s Wind: Nana Saheb’s Story

‘The Devil’s Wind is thus interesting as both a literary and historical artifact, well worth reading in the twenty-first century. It is a penetrating, imaginative and vivid work of historical fiction, seeking to explore the turbulent events of 1857–1858 from the perspective of Nana Saheb himself.’—From the Introduction by Anirudh Kanisetti

Praise for The Devil’s Wind

‘Nana-Sahib, one of the leaders of the Indian Mutiny of 1857, gets a chance to tell his own story in a historical novel.’ — The New York Times (1972)

‘Was Nana Saheb one of the leaders of the 1857 uprising? A monster who killed English women and children? Or was he a patriot? In The Devil’s Wind, Manohar Malgonkar tries to find an answer, giving us at the same time, in Nana Saheb’s own words, a fascinating picture of those tumultuous times, of confused loyalties and cruel betrayals. In Malgonkar, a new generation of readers will find a rare and skilled writer of historical fiction.’—Shashi Deshpande

‘The Devil’s Wind is a fascinating novel about the life and times of Nana Saheb. Imaginative and inventive, yet never losing sight of authenticity, taking in the vast turbulent sweep of history, and yet intimate, as a chamber play. Now printed fifty years after its first publication, this rediscovered classic gleams like one of Nana Saheb’s own lost gems.’—Avik Chanda

‘The Devil’s Wind and J.G. Farrell’s The Siege of Krishnapur are two of the finest pieces of fiction set in the context of the uprising of 1857. Using the revolt as a backdrop, Malgonkar weaves a poignant love story and makes it almost credible. It remains a powerful evocation of those tumultuous times.’—Rudrangshu Mukherjee

The Princes

‘The Princes is not just the story of how the princely states were swallowed whole by the new republic called India. It is also a bildungsroman of a prince namely Abhayraj. A prince born to the certainty that one day he shall be king. Abhayraj’s evolution from boy to man is fascinating.’—From the Introduction by Anita Nair

Praise for The Princes

‘In a fast-paced account which gives us an insight into the fascinating world of princely states with their aura of power, tiger hunts, champagne, and pearls, to their integration into independent India, Malgonkar traverses an India that was. Legitimacy and illegitimacy, fidelity and infidelity, bravery and cowardice go hand in hand whether of the ruler or the ruled in this unputdownable novel.’ —Rana Safvi

‘Manohar Malgonkar writes detachment and wit … The character of the father is vividly and boldly drawn; that of the son subtly and attractively matures; the social and political history is blended into the novel with considerable skill. And the measured, stately prose of old England proves itself to be still a wonderfully serviceable instrument.’—The Times Literary Supplement, London

‘Abiding interest … The Princes is a wonderfully decent and informative story.’—The Sunday Times

‘A brilliant picture of a vanishing, if not vanished, scene, the world of the small princely states of India … Manohar Malgonkar writes wittily and dispassionately.’—British Book News

‘A brilliantly realised novel about India as seen through Indian eyes.’—Western Mail

About HarperCollins India
HarperCollins India publishes some of the finest writers from the Indian Subcontinent and around the world, publishing approximately 200 new books every year, with a print and digital catalogue of more than 2,000 titles across 10 imprints. Its authors have won almost every major literary award including the Man Booker Prize, JCB Prize, DSC Prize, New India Foundation Award, Atta Galatta Prize, Shakti Bhatt Prize, Gourmand Cookbook Award, Publishing Next Award, Tata Literature Live! Award, Gaja Capital Business Book Prize, BICW Award, Sushila Devi Award, Sahitya Akademi Award and Crossword Book Award. HarperCollins India also represents some of the finest publishers in the world including Harvard University Press, Gallup Press, Oneworld, Bonnier Zaffre, Usborne, Dover and Lonely Planet. HarperCollins India is now the recipient of five Publisher of the Year Awards – In 2021 and 2015 at the Publishing Next Industry Awards, and in 2021, 2018 and 2016 at Tata Literature Live. HarperCollins India is a subsidiary of HarperCollins Publishers.