One of the few women graduates of her time and perhaps the first political leader from Bengal in the nationalist movement, Sarala Devi Chaudhurani founded the first all-India women's organization in 1910. A fiery proponent of the independence of women, Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain was denied formal education, but emerged as a leading write of her time and founded a school for girls. Set against the backdrop of surging nationalism and reform in twentieth-century Bengal, this book recounts the lives of these two outstanding women and compares their work, their approaches and their ideologies.