Shashi Tharoor delivers an incisive biography of the great secularist who—alongside his spiritual father, Mahatma Gandhi—led the movement for India’s independence from British rule and ushered his newly independent country into the modern world. The man who would one day help topple British rule and become India’s first prime minister started out as a surprisingly unremarkable student. Born into a wealthy, politically influential Indian family in the waning years of the Raj, Jawaharlal Nehru was raised on Western secularism and the humanist ideas of the Enlightenment. Once he met Gandhi in 1916, Nehru threw himself into the nonviolent struggle for India’s independence, a struggle that wasn’t won until 1947. India had found a perfect political complement to her more spiritual advocate, but neither Nehru nor Gandhi could prevent the horrific price for independence: partition. This fascinating biography casts an unflinching eye on Nehru’s heroic efforts for, and stewardship of, independent India and gives us a careful appraisal of his legacy to the world.

Although Gandhi has been the subject of hundreds of books and an Oscar-winning film, there has been no sustained study of his engagement with major figures in the Indian Independence Movement who were often his critics from 1920–1948. This book fills that gap by examining the strengths and weaknesses of Gandhi's contribution to India as evidenced in the letters, speeches, and newspaper articles focused on the dialogue/debate between Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, Rabindranath Tagore, Sri Aurobindo, Bhim Rao Ambedkar, Annie Besant, and C. F. Andrews. The book also covers key groups within India that Gandhi sought to incorporate into his Independence Movement—the Hindu Right, Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs—and analyzes Gandhi's ambiguous stance regarding the Hindi-Urdu question and its impact on the Independence struggle.

Reading Gandhi is a textbook for undergraduate students of Gandhi Studies. However, it will also interest anyone who wants a deeper understanding of the Mahatma's writings. The book covers all of Gandhi's major thoughts from Satyagraha and Swaraj to his understanding of untouchability, the environment, and issues related to women. Additionally, the book comprehensively analyzes commentaries on Gandhi by eminent scholars from various fields, such as Terence Ball and Quentin Skinner. Written in a vivid yet accessible manner with plenty of examples, photographs, and diagrams, this book will bring Gandhi's writings alive for the student. The book also contains several useful appendices like a chronology of important events in Gandhi's life for the reader's reference.

India's first seventeen years of independence were dominated by the goals and dynamic leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru. In this authoritative biography, a renowned expert on the history of India examines the life of the country's foremost politician.

Reminiscences of the author, special assistant, 1946 to 1959, to Jawaharlal Nehru, 1889-1964, former Prime Minister of India.