3 Review(s)

Exploring a less-discussed aspect of World War II, Hugh Toye analyses the life of Subhash Chandra Bose in The Springing Tiger, a biography he writes with authority as the man who hunted Netaji for close to two decades. Summary of the Book A contrasting figure when put up against the likes of Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose is the figurehead of Indian civil resistance against the Britishers through military action. At times revered for his values of nationalism, political astuteness and idealism, Bose was also a controversial figure for his support of Japan and Germany in the Second World War, a side that he chose wrongly in wanting to face off against the British. Hugh Toye speaks with his own voice, long known for leading the manhunt against Bose and his army. The book itself serves as the history of a lesser known side to the Second World War, and it is perhaps the only indifferent biography on Netaji, for though Toye has no reason to like him, he finds reasons to admire and perhaps respect the man he hunted. About Hugh Toye Claude Hugh Toye was an officer in the British Military Intelligence Department during World War II. He was in-charge of the team responsible for tracking Subhash Chandra Bose and the Indian National Army. Born into a Methodist family, Toye graduated from Queens' College, Cambridge. His final years in the British Military saw him rise to the ranks of Colonel and later Defense Advisor to the British Mission at the UN.