Gandhi Before India
- Publisher : Penguin Random House
- Binding : Paperback
- ISBN : 9780143423416
- Imprint : Penguin Books India
- Age Group : Adult
- Language : English
In 1893, when Mohandas Gandhi set sail for South Africa, he was a briefless lawyer who had failed to establish himself i ...
In 1893, when Mohandas Gandhi set sail for South Africa, he was a briefless lawyer who had failed to establish himself in India. In this remarkable biography, Ramachandra Guha argues that the two decades that Gandhi spent in the diaspora were the making of the Mahatma. It was here that he forged the philosophy and techniques that would ultimately destroy the British Empire.
Based on archival research in four continents, this book explores Gandhi’s experiments with dissident cults, his friendships and enmities, and his failures as a husband and father. Gandhi Before India tells the dramatic story of how he mobilized a cross-class and inter-religious coalition, pledged to non-violence in their battle against a racist regime.
Deeply researched and beautifully written, this book will radically alter our understanding and appreciation of modern India’s greatest man.
Ramachandra Guha has taught at Stanford University, the University of Oslo, the Indian Institute of Science, and the London School of Economics. His books include the award-winning India After Gandhi, and the first volume of this biography, Gandhi Before India, which was a 2014 New York Times Notable Book and a San Francisco Chronicle Best Book of the Year. He is the recipient of the Fukuoka Prize for contributions to Asian Studies and of an honorary doctorate in the humanities from Yale University. He lives in Bangalore.
