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Gandhi 1914-1948

Gandhi 1914-1948

The Years That Changed the World

Summary

'A vivid, absorbing read' Sunday Times
'Magisterial' Literary Review

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

  • This book will be of enormous interest to readers interested in how law, politics, journalism, social activism and associated professions interact in the processes of social and political change ... One senses, in the author's approach, something of Gandhi's own intensity and rigour ... this book never ceases to inform and intrigue, from the charming preface in which the author's love of his subject shines through, to its prophetic conclusion ... In Ramachandra Guha, a great man has found a great biographer, a wise, persistent and elegant historian who has done justice to perhaps his nation's greatest story
    Sydney Morning Herald

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.
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