The Story of Indian Archaeology 1784-1947 was first published in 1961, as part of the celebrations of the ASI's centenary. The book was, in many ways, the first truly engaging and accessible account of the pioneering scholars, painstaking research and discoveries that defined archaeology in India from the time of the Orientalists to Indiarn Independence. Almost immediately upon its release, Roy's narrative acquired a seminal status and few, if any, works on the history of Indian archaeology that have followed its publication can claim not to have derived inspiration from Roy's Story.

And yet, though fragments of his lucid prose survive in dozens of scholarly publications on archaeology, history has been less kind to sourindranath Roy who was unfortunately forgotten.