Aditya Balasubramanian's study of Indian conservative thought zeros in on the period of its emergence during the nationalist era and traces conservatism to when it took form in the Swatantra Party in post-independence India. What makes his research valuable and timely in the burgeoning field of Indian political thought and intellectual history is that he turns to an understudied group of activists and thinkers and their attempt at starting an alternative political party that would serve as an oppositional force to challenge the dominance of the Indian National Congress. Historians of India have examined and scrutinized liberal and progressive thinkers from Dadabhai Naoroji, M. K. Gandhi, and J. Nehru, to B. R. Ambedkar, tracking debates over liberalism in the colonies. However, despite their prominence in the nationalist movement, few historians have delved into the thought of self-identified conservatives who were as important in anticolonial nationalism. Balasubramanian argues that conservatism was a distinct intellectual formation that developed alongside Hindu nationalism and was not subsumed within the latter, as many might presume. What makes Balasubramanian's study innovative is his ability to combine an exploration of some very dynamic thinkers spanning the thought of figures such as Minoo Masani, Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi, N. G. Ranga, and C. Rajagopala