Ramachandra Guha

A brilliant account of Gandhi's early years in South Africa, where he developed his political thinking and forged his tools for fighting for civil rights. We in the subcontinent are generally not well informed of the length and intensity of this two decades long struggle for basic civil rights, and tend to assume that it was a simple, one-off affair. On the contrary, it was a long and bitter struggle, calling for enormous commitment and sacrifices on the part of quite ordinary people of show more Indian origin in South Africa, led and organised by a small-town lawyer from an obscure corner of Gujerat in the west of India, with no traditional or family ties to the place of the struggle. The author has rendered a timely service in retelling this epic in detail, as it tends to get overshadowed by the later part of Gandhi's life and career. It enhances our respect and awe of this great person, who went on to the even greater struggle of Indian independence, when he could as well have hung up his walking footwear and retreated to the life of a provincial lawyer. The simplicity and directness of Guha's prose mirrors the personality and style of his protagonist, making for an absorbing and painless reading experience. show less

This is a book that one does not grudge the time spent on its thousand pages, as the great saga of India's struggle to gain independence under Gandhi's leadership and spiritual tutelage during the first half of the 20th century obviously deserves, and requires, such an expanded canvas to be portrayed in all its subtle variations and its twists and turns. The author has deservedly received huge praise for this 'magisterial' work, for he has afforded us not only the fruit of his labors in the show more archives of three continents, but also his best-considered judgments on the crucial issues involved in this epic story, especially in his Epilogue. Uppermost among these questions is bound to be the feasibility of religious co-existence and the responsibility or culpability for Partition with the horrific cruelties that attended it; the rivalry between Gandhi and Jinnah, and the reaction of Ambedkar; the role of the Hindutva forces and their culpability for the assassination of the Mahatma; the disagreements on the role of village occupations versus modern industrial development; and many others. The great merit of this work is the easy and direct language it uses, the straightforward chronological approach with very few flash-backs or anticipations of the future; the complete absence of lofty theories of historical progress or complex sentences with double or triple negatives; the absence of pomposity or any parading of scholarship. But we are secure in our trust that the author has done the homework for us, that he has made as thorough a study of the original documents as is humanly possible, and that he has presented facts without embellishment or ideological preconceptions. It is therefore an exemplary achievement of the art and science of historical writing, and will serve as a source book for further explorations on the reader's part. show less

I do think that this is an excellent book about quite an extraordinary man.

I had not heard of Verrier Elwin until a friend of mine recommended this book to me. I started to read it, and when I did I was hooked.

Now, some reviewers have referred to Ramachandra Guha as having a Nehruvian hangover, and that this book is a whitewash of a most unscrupulous character, namely Verrier.

Indeed, Verrier Elwin was not a trained anthropologist, but he did live amongst the tribals for many years, and show more almost became one of them. He did, in my view, great service to the tribals by studying them and writing about them. His contributions to NEFA, later Arunachal Pradesh, are immense.

The book traces his life from school through to the early years in India, his fascination with Gandhi, and then his journey towards becoming an expert on tribals; towards becoming an Indian, and then an Indian government servant.

That a man like this is largely forgotten is a tragedy, and it is indeed a great service that Ramachandra Guha has done us by bringing his story to us in a readable, unbiased book. show less

My own view – speaking as a historian rather than citizen – is that as long as Pakistan exists there will be Hindu fundamentalists in India. In times of stability, or when the political leadership is firm, they will be marginal or on the defensive. In times of change, or when the political leadership is irresolute, they will be influential and assertive.

This sweeping history was a revelation. I feel as if I was simultaneously dazzled and lost. My chief response was a desire to read more show more both by Nehru as well as about him. I pondered concepts like communalism all week and made comparisons with other places, other history. Nehru apparently once confessed to Andre Malraux that his greatest challenge was creating and maintaining a secular state in a religious country. It was interesting how in the Nixon biography I recently read much was made about how Nixon felt Nehru and Indira Gandhi looked down upon him, a grocer's son. Little of that surfaced here--which is appropriate when considering the grand grievances of Nixon.

People have been predicating the doom of India since its Independence, some are now predicating that half of the nation is becoming California, the other half Chad. The resilient Indian embrace of democracy is the most encouraging, especially as across the world the institution appears to be falling from fashion. show less