Gandhi: The Man, His People and the Empire - Hardcover

‘Rajmohan is the son of Gandhi’s youngest son, Devadas. But he has more to offer than his family background. He is an accomplished biographer, columnist and editor... He has a deeper understanding of the social and political landscape of India, of the cleavages of caste and religion, and of the dynamics of the dominant Congress Party... Rajmohan takes us at a leisurely pace through the broad sweep of Gandhi’s personal and public life. His Gujarati background is given its due, as also his London years, his campaigns in South Africa, and his struggles and travels in India.’ -Ramachandra Guha, Times Literary Supplement

'Rajmohan Gandhi's weighty, authoritative and comprehensive biography is a great achievement' (William Dalrymple Financial Times )

This definitive biography of one of the most intriguing figures of the 20th century, written by his grandson, is the first to give a complete and balanced account of Gandhi’s remarkable life, full of contrasts and contradictions: the westernised London-trained lawyer who wore the clothes of India’s poorest and spun cotton by hand; the apostle of non-violence who lead an Indian ambulance corps in the Boer War and urged Indians to enlist in the First World War; the champion of Indian independence who never hated the British. Gandhi’s development during his long life and the conflicts in his own personality are as much a part of this book as his campaigns against racial discrimination in South Africa and for ‘Swaraj’ in India, his development of non-violent resistance (‘satyagraha’), and the problem of Hindu-Muslim conflict, the resolution of which was one of the passions of Gandhi’s life and which is still of vital significance today.