Gandhi 1914-1948

'Essential reading ... will not be bettered' Ferdinand Mount, Wall Street Journal
'Gandhi's finest biographer' David Kynaston, Guardian

The magnificent new biography of Gandhi by India's leading historian
A New York Times Notable Book of 2018

Gandhilived one of the great 20th-century lives. He inspired and enraged,challenged and galvanized many millions of men and women around theworld. He lived almost entirely in the shadow of the British Raj, whichfor much of his life seemed a permanent fact, but which he did more thananyone else to destroy, using revolutionary tactics. In a world definedby violence on a scale never imagined before and by ferocious Fascistand Communist dictatorship, he was armed with nothing more than hisarguments and example.

This magnificent book tells the story ofGandhi's life, from his departure from South Africa to his assassinationin 1948. It is a book with a Tolstoyan sweep, both allowing us to seeGandhi as he was understood by his contemporaries and the vast, variedIndian societies and landscapes which he travelled through and changedbeyond measure. Drawing on many new sources and animated by its author'swonderful sense of drama and politics, Gandhi is a major reappraisal of the crucial years in this titanic figure's story.

Değerlendirmeler

Through Gandhi's life, a reminder that we have forgotten the value of religious pluralism and the virtues of non-violence he wants to narrate Gandhi's life for today's generation. It is a courageous and worthwhile endeavour, even if Guha admits in the epilogue that we have forgotten the lessons Gandhi taught us: the value of religious pluralism, and the virtues of non-violence and civil disobedience. Guha is the quintessential story teller. He displaces Gandhi from the pedestal generations have placed him on. He shows us a man who was known for taking political time by the forelock, for shaping history, and for his readiness to admit his own mistakes.