It's here! Browse the 2024 Penguin Christmas gift guide
Gandhi 1914-1948

Gandhi 1914-1948

The Years That Changed the World

Summary

'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

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

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

Reviews

  • Gandhi: The Years That Changed the World will not be bettered, and it is essential reading even for those who do not think of themselves as India buffs, because Gandhi is a maker of our whole modern world
    Ferdinand Mount, Wall Street Journal

About the author

Ramachandra Guha

Ramachandra Guha is the author of a number of major history books, including INDIA AFTER GANDHI. He lives in Bangalore.
Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more