ABSTRACT
The book is introduced in the present chapter in five respects. One, it discusses the study area with a brief deliberation on its physical characteristics, and also the study period along with its salient economic and political features. Two, it seeks to underline the justification of studying Bengal for understanding the decline of British industrial hegemony in India during the inter-war period. Three, it focuses on various themes that this study covers in respect of different industries. Four, the chapter also introduces the contents of different chapters that follow. Finally, I seek to situate this study in the existing scholarship and highlight its weaknesses.
