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This study is the result of the author's personal involvement with Bengal over an extended period of time. In an attempt to build an understanding of the forces impinging on the communist movement in Bengal, Professor Franda focuses on the communists as political calculators and on the environment (regional, national, and international) in which they have their origins. While the scope of the study includes the Marxist Left in Bengal, more attention is paid to the communists because of their central role in developing organizational models and strategies for all leftist parties in the Bengali-speaking region.The principal concern of the author is to trace the extent to which the Communist and Marxist Left parties have been able to modify the basic political alignments that came into being with Independence. He concludes that the failure of the communists in Bengal ultimately stems from the failure of all of India's party leaders to devise a means for bringing about fundamental political transformations in Bengal and in the country as a whole.This book will be useful to those interested in Indian politics and, more generally, to students of revolution, radical movements, political development, communist studies, and Asian politics."Contents: " 1. Introduction 2. Party Leadership: Sources of Elite Recruitment 3. Factional Conflict and Party Organizations 4. Sino-Soviet Conflict and the Split 5. Electoral Politics and Political Power 6. Political Power and the Revolt of the Maoists 7. The CPM and Partial Political Power 8. The CPI and National Coalition Building 9. Communism in a Bengali Environment