Gandhi [Paperback]

Peter Ruhe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 5, 2004

A visual narrative of the life and work of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. A strong, intimate, entertaining and moving documentary of both the public and the private man. This book introduces to the reader the life and work of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi often through rare and never before seen photography. The photographs derive from two main collections, one from the photo-archives of Gandhi's foremost biographer Vithalbhai Jhaveri, and of Kanu Gandhi, Gandhi's great nephew. Jhaveri made it his life's work to collect photographs of MK Gandhi from sources around the world. After Jhaveri's death, Peter Ruhe turned the extensive photo collection of over 9,000 prints into a photo-archive of the highest standard through scientific cataloguing and computerisation. Kanu Gandhi lived with MK Gandhi for the last 12 years of his life and was the only person Gandhi gave permission to photograph him, but with three conditions; that the freedom movement would not fund it, that he was not to use flash and that Gandhi would not pose for him. This collection is therefore a precious and intimate view of the more private side of Gandhi's life. The book has a strong visual narrative and allows us a rare

Editorial Reviews

Review

"'For anyone truly inspired by one of the greatest men that ever walked the earth, this comprehensive biography of the Mahatma is a must' (Garavi Gujarat); '... allow[s] us an intimate insight into the life of one of the 20th century's great figures' (Sunday Times Magazine); 'This is a history book with a difference. It brings Gandhi to a new generation of readers. Some wonderful old photographs tell a great story and a perceptive new text shows Gandhi, the man who struggled to live up to ideals despite the contradictions that dogged him in his personal and political life' (Swagat)"

About the Author

Peter Ruhe lives in Berlin and Mumbai, India. He is a specialist in the conservation of visual material of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and has in various countries presented Multi Media events on Gandhi and worked on several TV productions. Peter Ruhe is the founder of Gandhiserve. His life before Gandhi involved semi-professional football and, later, computer programming. In 1983 Peter made his first visit to India. In Germany in this same year he became involved with the German Peace Movement and the foundation and establishment of the Gandhi Information Centre, Berlin. In 1984 he was co-author of the book 'My Life is My Message' and four years later began preparation for what is now the largest photo-archive on Gandhi and India's Freedom Movement. His visits to India concentrated mainly in Gujarat, the region of Gandhi's home, here he worked on many projects. In 1992 he was awarded for his life work by the Gujarati Writer's Association in Rajkot. In 1997 he was the Director of Research for the documentary TV-serial on Gandhi by Ketan Mehta, and in 1998 established the non-profit organisation Gandhiserve in Berlin. Every year he visits numerous associates and relatives of Gandhi, photographers, collectors and contemporaries of Gandhi throughout India and in other countries. His aims are to record reminiscences and first hand information about Gandhi and India's freedom movement and to guide the owners of material in the correct way to store and handle their treasured films, letters, photographs and documents and to make this material available.

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: Phaidon Press (October 5, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714844594
• ISBN-13: 978-0714844596
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 9.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,693,763 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Peter Rühe (1957) was born in Berlin, Germany, where he grew up and still spends most of his time. He travelled South and South East Asia extensively where he spent about seven years in India only. Mr. Rühe studied the life and work of Mahatma Gandhi and India's indepedence movement "on the spot" and helped identifying and preserving a lot of original documents, films and photographs. In various countries Mr. Rühe presented multi media events on Gandhi and he worked for several TV productions. Peter Rühe is the founder of the charitable GandhiServe Foundation and author of the photo biography GANDHI, published by Phaidon, London/New York in 2001.
"Indian president Prathiba Patil presented the US president Barack Obama with two books on Mahatma Gandhi including a photo-biography by German Peter Rühe and 'The Life of Mahatma Gandhi' by US journalist Louis Fischer."
(The Times of India, 8 November 2010)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This is a difficult book to read., December 18, 2001

By 

Allan M. Gathercoal "fdoamerica" (Norcross, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Gandhi: A Photo Biography (Hardcover)

This is a difficult book to read.

It is a difficult read, not because of the historical writing of Peter Ruhe, who has done a commendable job, nor because of the photo editing by Sophie Spencer-Wood, a top rate job indeed; but because the publisher, Phaidon Press, choose to print the text using a very small type with a recessive color using glossy paper. Sad, especially when you open to the text section and see there are 2 ½" top, 2 ½" left and 1 ½" bottom margins. Go figure. To make the matter worse under each photo caption, the publisher uses an even smaller type and in a tan color.

Phaidon Press failed to consider that the audience most likely to buy to this book, will be, by majority, mid-aged or older. Thus, they, like me, probably will need reading glasses. However, even with good reading glasses, the smallness of type, the faded black ink (on the verge of gray) and the glaring glossy paper made reading this book very strenuous and difficult.

That said, I found Peter Ruhe's writing balanced and refreshing. He chronologically lays out Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi's life in an engaging, investigative manner. Ruhe is an admirer of Mahatma but not enamored enough to be a blind devote. He points out the times that Gandhi's belief in satyagraha (truth-force) blinded him. One such time, related to the evil of Nazi Germany, "Gandhi insisted that Hitler was merely misguided. In his mind the German leader could be dissuaded from further conquest by the power of reason or, if necessary, satyagraha". Though Gandhi had achieved mystical status, to Ruhe he was still a man, although, one of the world's greatest.

The 400 Black and White photos curated by Sophie Spencer-Wood are excellent They illustrate the time line of this great man's life. The reproduction of the photos is top rate, and this alone makes the book a worthy addition to any Mahatma Gandhi collection. Gandhi's body was cremated, January 31. 1948. The words of Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister, eulogize Gandhi even today, "the light has gone out of our lives, and there is darkness everywhere, our beloved leader... the father of the Nation is no more." Recommended

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent!, January 4, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Gandhi: A Photo Biography (Hardcover)

This book is an amazing compilation of photographs, in chronological order, telling you about the life and philosophy of Gandhi. The pictures tell the story themselves and help you get a feeling of how things really were and the true magnitude of the movement for an independent India.

5.0 out of 5 stars Photographs of Mahatma Gandhi..., June 30, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Gandhi: A Photo Biography (Hardcover)

Excellent book, the photo-biography on Mahatma Gandhi the Father of India was a real pleasure to read and a wonderful account of his life told in pictures. One forgets that Mahatma Gandhi wanted India to be one nation-state and not divided into India and Pakistan, it was Nehru, Jinnah and the British that separated India. Granted there would have been problems, but they would have been under one nation-state and not two as there is between India and Pakistan today...