Do the lok sabha elections of 2014 signal the end of the road for the left? over the past twenty years, the indian political climate has shifted decidedly to the right – with the bjp and the congress dragging india into a growth trajectory that squanders the hopes of working people. the old consensus on indian socialism is threadbare, and socialist parties in disarray.//the future of indian communism is rooted in the popular hopes for a better tomorrow and in the popular discontent with the bitter present. no free left is a critical examination of the past of indian communism and an assessment of its future.//most literature on indian communism feels claustrophobic. it assumes that the communist movement lives on a detached landscape – its programme and political judgments are adjudged against a divine standard. a history of communism cannot be written, gramsci said, without writing a “general history of a country.” vijay prashad does exactly that.//no free left stays alive to the details of the present while drawing out the long term dynamic, combining a rich historical survey with acute political analysis of the present. it is a compelling work for students of indian politics. for activists of the left, it is indispensable reading. above all, it is a live work, an invitation to debate and discussion.