Indira: The Life of Indira Nehru Gandhi (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "DAILY NINETY-MINUTE FLIGHTS connect Srinagar, the capital of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, with Delhi..." (more)
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The veteran author of critically praised books about Emily Brontë and Lucie Duff Gordon has written an exemplary popular biography of the powerful, controversial prime minister who indelibly shaped the world's largest democracy. Katherine Frank's solidly researched narrative is particularly good on the early years of Indira Gandhi (1917-84), cogently delineating her complex relationship with her father, nationalist hero Jawaharlal Nehru, which was intimate when they were pouring out their feelings in letters, but strained when they were actually together. We see an intelligent, strong-minded woman coming of age in a turbulent time marked by her relatives' frequent stays in prison as India struggled for freedom from Great Britain. After independence, when Nehru became prime minister, Gandhi was politically active but for many years resisted seeking power in her own right. Following the deaths of her husband (Feroze Gandhi, no relation to the Mahatma) in 1960 and Nehru in 1964, she moved into the top spot, aided by the Congress Party bosses' mistaken impression that she would be a figurehead they could manipulate. On the contrary, Frank shows Prime Minister Gandhi prompted by her deep fear of disorder toward increasingly authoritarian acts, most notoriously the state of emergency declared in 1975, when she authorized the arrest of many opposition leaders. Frank depicts Gandhi as having more faith in her personal bond with the Indian people than in the messy workings of democracy. But the religious and political divisions inflamed by her policies came home to roost in 1984, when she was assassinated by her own bodyguard, a Sikh enraged by the massacre of militant Sikhs in the Golden Temple. This sympathetic but unsparing portrait makes it clear that Gandhi was a flawed leader but evinces compassion for a woman striving with a difficult personal and political legacy. --Wendy Smith

From Publishers Weekly

The most striking aspects of Frank's readable, well-wrought biography are Gandhi's sad childhood and her reluctance to enter politics. She attended upwards of seven schools in Switzerland, England and India and was often separated from her family her tubercular mother died when Indira was 19; her father and many family members were in and out of jail during the Independence Movement. Indira herself was sickly (she spent 10 months in a sanatorium in Switzerland during WWII), and, at 37, she wrote to a friend, "I am doing a tremendous amount of work these days but I have not discovered my m‚tier yet." Schoolmate Iris Murdoch remembered Gandhi as "very unhappy, very lonely, intensely worried about her father and her country and thoroughly uncertain about the future." Only after the deaths of her husband, Feroze Gandhi; her father; Jawaharlal Nehru, independent India's first leader; and Lal Bahadur Shastri, his successor, did she come into her own politically. Not a political biography, Frank's book (via letters and conversations with close confidants) comes closest to showing the human Indira who joined politics because she felt duty-bound to uphold her father's secular, inclusive vision of her homeland. Frank (A Passage to Egypt: The Life of Lucie Duff Gordon; etc.) shows that Gandhi's increasing isolation, loss of confidence and closeness to her son, Sanjay, caused her later to impose the Emergency (suspending civil liberties and jailing opponents) and play castes, religions and political groups against one another contrary to her father's ideals. But she is far less knowable in the book's second and third sections, when she becomes the paranoid, ruthless leader remembered for her despotism. 12 pages b&w photos not seen by PW. Agent, Virginia Barber. (Aug. 14)Forecast: As the first biography of the late Indian leader, this will surely receive review attention and should sell well among those interested in India and in the life of an extraordinary woman.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 592 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (January 7, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 039573097X
• ISBN-13: 978-0395730973
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #322,278 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Riveting!, October 28, 2002

By	J. Marren "jtm497" (Glen Ridge, NJ USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I found this book to be an absolutely fascinating introduction to 20th century Indian history through the story of an absolutely fascinating woman. Indira's early years as part of the most prominent family in India post-independence were chaotic--her education was haphazard, her health very poor, her sense of security forever damaged by periodic visits to jail by her father and even once by her tubercular mother. Her life goals were confused--she longed for anonymity as those around her pushed her into the limelight. Her marriage was troubled and she had children against the advice of her doctors.

Indira's political life began in my opinion with her decision to separate from her husband and live with her father and become his "right hand woman," plus the advent of anti-biotics which cured her own TB for good. She became strong and accustomed to power, but never overcame the fear and suspicion of others and fear of disorder which so tragically played itself out in her own political career.

This book is over-sympathetic to Indira during her years in power. Taking advantage of certain constitutional provisions which thank god have no equivalent in the US, she systematically dismantled local governments which were the backbone of this country that is fractured by ethnic and religious conflict. She surrounded herself with loyal but not very wise men, and as the older generation of politicians retired from public life, a new generation of leadership failed to emerge in the corrupt, authoritarian atmosphere she created. She allowed her son Sanjay to roam uncontrolled and sat by as he knocked off enemies, took enormous bribes and payoffs, and perpetrated some of the worst injustices of the Emergency. She was voted out of office in 1977 but amazingly voted back in in 1980, in part because her years in power had allowed her to keep the opposition weak, disorganized and divided.

In fairness Indira was faced with intractable problems--conflict in Assam, Sri Lanka and Kashmir, war with Pakistan, unimaginable poverty, illiteracy, Muslim-Hindu strife, the caste system and the tragedy of untouchability, drought and famine. Unfortunately her reaction to these was to eliminate opposition and protect her own position, and in later years do nothing as she was overwhelmed by paranoia and a clear sense of her own imminent assasination.

And yet the people loved her. On a recent visit to India I visited Gandhi's house and the garden where he was assinated--it was peaceful and uncrowded. Meanwhile long lines awaited those seeking admission to the garden where Indira was killed and her memorial. She styled herself "Mother India," and was idolized by the poor. She spoke to their needs but tragically did little to help them.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Indira, or those looking to gain some understanding of the modern history of India.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book, February 8, 2002

By	S. Raja Laskar (Dallas, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an exceptional and insightful historical biography. The origin's of Indira's fragile psyche are documented and explain her erratic and unpredictable tenure as India's leader. Yet figures as disparate as Margaret Thatcher and Khuswant Singh were admirers of Indira, revealing the power of her persona and charisma. If I were to recommend one book for a Western audience on post-colonial India, this book would be it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful biography, January 24, 2002

By	NP (Connecticut) - See all my reviews

I have read only a few sections so far and I am mesmerized. I feel as if I am back in Indira's time and place.

The research and the annotations make it a very authoritative biography. It contains a must-read account of the ups and downs of her relationship with her husband Feroze (not available anywhere else) and with her father and mother.

Indira emerges as a very lonely, tragic figure.

I feel energized as I read the progressive views of Nehru. The passages where he describes his expectations for Indira - to work in public life yet also be financially independent are empowering. The great thinkers of that day were more forward-thinking and openminded than most people are even today!

This biograhy is long overdue and is comparable in stature to that of John Adams by David McCullough.