It is 1916, the middle of World War I. Madhusudan Chandra Joshi is a young clerk who works at the District Courts of India. As he journeys to Heidelberg to study law, a chance meeting with a mysterious revolutionary, Amir Farooqui, sets him on a headlong collision with forces he does not understand. He is inducted into the shadowy Hindu–German Conspiracy, a gun running plot for freedom operated by Indians in exile, which plays out on several stages across the world.

When Indian regiments of the British Empire's army begin fighting Germans, it becomes impossible for Madhusudan and Amir to remain in Heidelberg. Madhusudan leaves for London, hoping to continue his studies, and Amir for San Francisco to find his friends and fellow revolutionaries. In London, Madhusudan is forced to reckon with the iniquities of colonialism and racism, and finally acknowledge that there are some things you cannot outrun.

With its fierce and clear-sighted vision of an unequal world The Imitation Englishman is a truly powerful debut. Above all, it is a story of adventures, of friendships formed in the crucible of a cause, and what it means to set out on a journey and find oneself.