Customer Reviews

Glimpses of World History

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A brilliant intellectual pursuit that gives a glimpse of Nehru's intellect, comprehension and culture. In the myriad of Western opinions of human progress, 'discoveries' and colonialism, Nehru's Glimpses stand out for its bold 'other view' of history as well as generous and magnanimous acknowledgement of the merits of every civilisation. To have the 'Glimpses' lost on one, as a mere rambling collection of letters would be tragic. To appreciate the 'Glimpses' one must understand the context in which it was written. It was not meant as an exercise to outline history for the world with the global audience in mind. It was merely a father's restricted dialogue with a daughter outside the prison walls with the intention of instilling pride in her culture and history. And maybe, as an inspiration to India's freedom fighters to stand up against the might of a hegemonic empire and its propaganda on history and civilisation. While the bleakness of his and the Colonial India's circumstances colour his opinions slightly, it does not blind him to historical realities.
That a book with such a narrow, domestic agenda subsequently appealed to the wider audience internationally is probably the finest testament of Nehru's brilliance.

A very concise yet informative survey of world history from the antiquity. This book touches almost everything important in history. Could be used both for recreational reading and also as a primer in world history for a university/school course. The only flaw in the book is that it stops abruptly in 1932. No fault of Mr Nehru, though. I guess someone should work on this book and bring it up to date.

Nehru himself calls the book as "Ramblings", given the background that book is a compilation of a whole bunch(196) of lengthy letters to his daughter, Indira Priyadarshini, during his stay in various goals across British Raj (which made him rely on memory than references). His main aim was to introduce his lovely daughter to the world but NOT to be a historian. He starts from the pre-Indus Valley civilization days and ends just before the dawn of WW II in this 971-page book. The book, apart from being journal of events in history, talks about opinions of Nehru on various events with more weightage to his favorite ones.

The book with Nehru's democratic spirit, his scietific and rational approach, his masterly narration with a poetic temper and his control over the language make the book immensely readable.

The perfect book to answer your questions on World history. Nehru's knowledge of history is awe inspiring. His first letter to Indira Gandhi is very touching. His political achivements may be questionable but his intellect is not.

If you like to learn about history but dont know where to start, if you have picked up history book and got bored and quit, you will love this book. It is not mere incident reporting like most history book. Nehru tell you what you want to know in a a way you wont want to put the book down. I read it many years ago and now I am going to read it again.

nehro or ghandi were not muslims. If you want to assign a religion to them you MUST know your facts. I believe they susbcribe to the "truth" and "faith in goodness" from hinduism, islam and christianity.