Customer Reviews

Gandhi: The Man, His People, and the Empire (Philip E. Lilienthal Book in Asian Studies)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a journalist who has reported on religion for a quarter of a century, my bookshelves are lined with most of the earlier volumes on this defining spiritual figure of the 20th Century -- a man whose brilliance even shaped the American Civil Rights movement half way around the world and whose teachings continue to inspire and provoke.

Why buy this new book? (And I do urge you to buy it if you are intrigued by this figure who strides across the history of religion like a tireless titan to this day.)

Well, first of all, here's what this book is not. This isn't a breezy read and it isn't a fresh interpretation of one particular aspect or one particular era of Gandhi's life. Even though the biographer is Gandhi's grandson, who was a child when Gandhi was murdered, this is not a memoir of a close associate.

Millions have read Louis Fischer's breezy introduction, first published in 1954. There's probably a paperback edition of Fischer somewhere in your public, school or parish library. You may even have a well-worn copy on your shelf. If you know that version -- Fischer's book (which still stands as a fine introduction) is like a magazine story compared to this full biography.

A number of more ambitious biographies also have been published down through the years, including Eknath Easwaran's 1972 effort to describe Gandhi's "transformation" -- and Yogesh Chadha's thick biography more recently.

What I like about Gandhi's new biography of Gandhi is the substantial, almost formal, way in which the grandson has cast this book as The Definitive Biography. And I agree. To put it simply, I think this is the version of Gandhi's life that we will find on library shelves 25 years from now as the recommended book to read to delve into his life.

"Delve" is a key word here, because you're in for a good long adventure here. At 754 pages, this is a brick of a book. It is "definitive" in the sense that it is a solid, detailed, chronological biography. It's the kind of presentation that will leave readers really feeling that they have trekked with Gandhi across continents -- and through his spiritual and political journeys.

More detailed reviews of this book, published in India, point to very specific aspects within the book -- and the way the author took a balanced approach to them, rather than pulling the most dramatic or provocative bits of Gandhi's life out of context. Generally, Indian media has praised this book.

I share all of this background with you so that you understand exactly what will arrive on your doorstep with a thud if you order this book. It's an adventure in reading that you're going to want to pursue, perhaps, for some weeks.

Now, here's what I really love about this book: In the midst of the chronological tapestry that the biographer weaves from Gandhi's life -- we find these vivid images that open up from time to time. Having just finished my own journey through the book -- I don't think I'll forget the passages of Gandhi's own writing, late in life, that the biographer chooses to leave us with. Yes, we're moving through the detailed account of the final months of his life with dates, places, events and context all described. But, this provides a framework in which the biographer places these windows into Gandhi's own insights. And, in that final section of the book as an example, he has deftly chosen the most vividly revealing passages -- from a satirical note about snakes that Gandhi scribbled to a critic to an achingly beautiful passage about forgiving one's own assassin that Gandhi wrote not long before he was shot down.

It's a big book and a big investment in time -- but well worth the journey.

This is a superb book that includes a lot of information not previously known. Was so interesting to read of how he interacted with his family as well as observation after WW 1 that the middle east countries would be taken by the English and Americans because of the oil.

And how Tolstoy played a role in molding his views on all things spiritual as well as observations on how Gandhi's view effected issues like the environment, feminism, business and human rights in general.

The Mahatma, the Great Soul of India went to practiced law in South Africa to carry the banner of justice against the usurpers of human dignity.

He defied the unjust authority with wisdom and pacifism.
How ironic that the British Empire, supposedly the torch of liberty and equality stood like a brick wall in the face of Gandhi.

Gandhi was India's first free spirited intellectual to raise a red flag against the notorious Indian cast system.
This book retraces memorable moments in his life.

The book is up-lifting and inspirational.
It is nourishment for the soul.

A well-rounded description of one of the greatest figures of the 20th century. It follows him from his beginnings in India, to London as a young man, then South Africa and back to India. His evolution from a barrister to a full-fledged fighter for Indian independence is traced.

While it is true that India would have achieved independence without Gandhi - it was Gandhi who stamped the "way" and "how" of this incredible movement. No nation has achieved autonomy in the Indian fashion - one has only to look at the notorious revolutions of Russia and China to see how these two countries have been mutilated by their violent uprisings for the "freedom" of their peoples'.

Gandhi struggled against his own country's inequities. As the author recounts, Gandhi traversed India several times to understand and deal with its endless problems. He organized campaigns to end the exploitation of the poor from landlords. He formed unions of poor workers so they could demand better wages and working conditions. Gandhi agitated and fasted to attempt to end the stigma of "Untouchability".

Britain did much to exacerbate and harm Gandhi - incarcerating him and his followers several times. Britain exploited the existing religious schisms in India to try to prolong their rule.

One also gets the feeling that Gandhi never quite understood Europe - for example he encouraged European Jews in 1939-40 to non-violently resist Hitler. His suggestion to Britain in 1940 to allow Germany to invade was not exactly commendable.

Gandhi as the writer (his grandson) points out had a rather strange puritanical streak; almost equating sexual enjoyment with sinfulness. He was also against any form of birth control.

Gandhi stressed the peacefulness and love expressed in Islam and Hinduism, but never seemed to come to grips with the divisiveness of religion. Even though he wanted a secular India there was a strong religious (Hindu) pull in him. How this would be compatible with a secular state is a big question mark?

The author paints a very complex man - who believed strongly in individualism and interacted with an extraordinarily wide range of human beings - from the high and powerful to the "lowly" untouchables - who he called "People of God". It is much to Gandhi's credit that even with his "enemies" he was always able to communicate.

Gandhi believed in "Truth" and "Love". Towards the end of his life he came to equate "God with Truth" and "Truth with God".

This book has many quotations from Gandhi's speeches and writings that provide us many insights into this unique man. When Gandhi was assassinated he had little worldly possessions - but his name and the meaning of his life will live on forever.


Gandhi was active his entire life. It his seventies he was still carrying on fasts to aid his country.

All and all, a tremendous book giving us a deeper understanding of this 20th century giant.

Content Summary: One of the longest available biographies of Mohandas K. Gandhi, this book is written by one of his grandsons, and is a comprehensive overview of the Mahatma's life. Covering the details from his birth to his education in London, his satyagraha in South Africa, and finally his commitment to independence, "Gandhi" is an epic read. I recommend it. For those looking for something shorter, Louis Fischer's "Gandhi: His Life and Message for the World" may be adequate.Gandhi: His Life and Message for the World

Analytical Review: Readers should expect a very detailed account that tells more about Gandhi the man than other biographies. This book is a well-researched work, comparable with those of Yogesh Chadha and Louis Fischer. All three will give you more or less the same story, but each will illumine perspectives and ideas absent in the others. This book tells more about Gandhi as a human being, a concerned father and husband than other works, and less about the assassins than does Chadha's book. In any event, Rajmohan Gandhi's work is impressive and an important accomplishment.

Until reading this biography of Mahatma Gandhi, my knowledge of his life primarily came from the 1982 movie Sir Richard Attenborough's Gandhi starring Ben Kingsley. While the movie was enjoyable, it paled in comparison to the man's true story. Written by Gandi's grandson, this tombe of a book digs deep into the daily life and private thoughts and correspondance of Gandhi. While a lenghty book, I understand there are 6 volume libraries of his life. But, I believe the key messages got across. His tolerance of other faiths while remaining a devout Hindu was admirable. In a time when intolerance was rampant, his bravery was nothing short of amazing.

From a writing standpoint, the book is a fairly difficullt read for someone not familiar with this history of India, Hinduism, or some of the languages of India. The author uses Hindi phrases, along with other languages, making understanding of some parts difficult. In addition, being an American and not used to Indian/Hindu names, associating names with people was not easy to do.

All-in-all, however, the narrative is outstanding and worthy of praise. If you are interesting in understanding the history, as well as learning about the man himself and those he surrounded himself with, you could not go wrong reading this.

I needed to read this book a long time ago. As someone else said, it is very inspirational and uplifting. But it is also very tragic.

As a political figure, this man was the George Washington of India. But he was not just a political figure of a single country. His life has much to teach the rest of humanity. Imagine if we all followed his principles and his example?

I am struck by how much he was influenced by the American authors Thoreau and Emerson. Thoreau in particular had heavy influence on him. Gandhi wrote of Thoreau in Indian Opinion 'was a great writer, poet, and withal a most practical man, that is, he taught nothing he was not prepared to practice in himself. He was one of the greatest and most moral men America has produced'. From Thoreau, Gandhi absorbed the principles of civil disobedience, the concept of prison as the true place of a just man, and the concept that the government that governs the best governs the least.

Satyagraha was thus germinated from the ideas of an American author, and grew strong in the heavy atmosphere of injustice in early twentieth century South Africa.

At the satyagraha ashram in India, the eleven principles that people joining would swear to were: non-violence, truth, non-stealing, chastity, non-possession, bread-labor, control of the palate, fearlessness, respect for all religions, swadeshi (buying things only made in India), and the abolition of untouchability.

Gandhi's absolute steadfastness on the latter principle is in my very humble opinion the thing that did him in. I believe he lost the support of mainline conservative Hindus on that point. These were the same that were very inflammatory towards the Muslims, and so India was torn apart after it was released from the British Empire. There was a minor religious war that happened then, with seemingly only one man trying desperately to keep the peace and keep the country together. And then someone lost their mind and tragically killed the man trying to keep the peace, possibly the greatest peace maker in the history of the world.