What is in the book
Seventeen chapters in four acts and an epilogue, written for children of about 10 to 14, and for the parents and teachers who read with them. The book is an interactive web edition that works on a phone, with print-ready PDFs in full colour and in an ink-saver version. It comes in English and in Hindi.
17 chapters
Four acts and an epilogue: the plan, the night, the hunt, and the last days. Paintings in the book are made with AI and are labelled as such.
Watch the train on a map
Press "Play the night" and follow the train from Shahjahanpur to Kakori on a real map.
The whole case in a timeline
From the first robbery plans to the hangings, with the chapter to read for each event.
Six people you will follow
Tap a card to turn it over. Badges show who was on the train and who was not.
Read it, or hear it
Recorded narration with the words lighting up as they are spoken.
A twelve-question quiz
You see at once whether you were right, and which chapter to read again.
"How do we know? Who fired the shot?"
A short lesson. Read five sources that do not agree, then label each claim: well supported, probably true, said by some, not known.
The whole book in Hindi
वह रात जब 8 डाउन रुकी. The Hindi edition has the same chapters, map, quiz and lesson.
Print it your way
Full colour, an ink-saver version on white pages, and a teacher pack of worksheets, a lesson, a quiz and an answer key (27 pages, in English and in Hindi).
Who it is for
- Parents of children of about 10 to 14 who want history that is not a textbook.
- Teachers who want ready worksheets and a lesson on how historians check their sources.
How the book tells the story
It states what happened and does not praise killing. Where the sources disagree, the book says so and shows each version.
How you get it
The book is delivered as a personal link that works on up to 3 devices. Price: Rs 99. Find the link in the Curious Indian bio on Instagram and Facebook.