Description

Gandhi Before India:
The first volume of a magisterial biography: the definitive portrait of the life and work of one of the most abidingly influential–and controversial–men in modern history.

Here is a revelatory work of biography that takes us from Gandhi’s birth in 1869 through his upbringing in Gujarat, his 2 years as a student in London, and his 2 decades as a lawyer and community organizer in South Africa. Ramachandra Guha has uncovered a myriad of previously untapped documents, including: private papers of Gandhi’s contemporaries and co-workers; contemporary newspapers and court documents; the writings of Gandhi’s children; secret files kept by British Empire functionaries. Using this wealth of material in a brilliantly nuanced narrative, Guha describes the social, political and personal worlds in which Gandhi began his journey to become the modern era’s most important and influential political actor. And Guha makes clear that Gandhi’s work in South Africa–far from being a mere prelude to his accomplishments in India–was profoundly influential on his evolution as a political thinker, social reformer and beloved leader.

Ramachandra Guha has previously taught at the universities of Yale and Stanford, the University of Oslo, the Indian Institute of Science and the London School of Economics. His books include a pioneering environmental history, an award-winning social history of cricket, and the award-winning India After Gandhi. He writes regularly on social and political issues for the British and Indian press, including columns in the Telegraph and the Hindustan Times and has also appeared in the New York Times. The author lives in Bangalore, India.

http://www.bookclubs.ca/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780307357922