Editorial Note THE RECENT shift in the focus of historical writings on Modern India has been both reflected in as well as commented upon in the pages of Social Scientist. Recent issues of Social Scientist^ for example, have carried articles on the TISCO workers' struggles,^ the struggles of the Oudh peasantry etc, which reflect the growing interest among historians in a "history of the people'. In a sense, however, this journal's interest in a 'history of the people' may be said to ^re-date the new trend among professional historians. Years ago, Social Scientist carried articles on the struggles of the Malabar peasantry as well as extracts from P Sundarayya's monumental study of the Telengana peopled struggle, long before the trend towards a 'liistory of the people' had acquired vogue in the world of professional historians. At the same time, this journal has devoted considerable space to critical discussions of important works by professional historians, reflecting this new Ue^d. The volume entitled Subaltern Studies 7, which is a particular example of this new trend, has been commented upon at length in this journal in a review article as Well as in a recent communication. As an expression of our abiding interest in a 'history of the people' we publish as the lead article in this issue Sabyasachi Bhattacharya's presidential address to the Modern India section of the Indian History Congress session held at Kurukshetra in 1982. Bhattacharya reviews the diverse inspirations behind the turn towards a 'history of the people' or 'history from below' among professional historians, both abroad as welFas in India, locates this trend in the context of Indian historiography, charts out the terrain for future research in this area in general and in labour history in