This is a book that one does not grudge the time spent on its thousand pages, as the great saga of India's struggle to gain independence under Gandhi's leadership and spiritual tutelage during the first half of the 20th century obviously deserves, and requires, such an expanded canvas to be portrayed in all its subtle variations and its twists and turns. The author has deservedly received huge praise for this 'magisterial' work, for he has afforded us not only the fruit of his labors in the archives of three continents, but also his best-considered judgments on the crucial issues involved in this epic story, especially in his Epilogue. Uppermost among these questions is bound to be the feasibility of religious co-existence and the responsibility or culpability for Partition with the horrific cruelties that attended it; the rivalry between Gandhi and Jinnah, and the reaction of Ambedkar; the role of the Hindutva forces and their culpability for the assassination of the Mahatma; the disagreements on the role of village occupations versus modern industrial development; and many others. The great merit of this work is the easy and direct language it uses, the straightforward chronological approach with very few flash-backs or anticipations of the future; the complete absence of lofty theories of historical progress or complex sentences with double or triple negatives; the absence of pomposity or any parading of scholarship. But we are secure in our trust that the author has done the homework for us, that he has made as thorough a study of the original documents as is humanly possible, and that he has presented facts without embellishment or ideological preconceptions. It is therefore an exemplary achievement of the art and science of historical writing, and will serve as a source book for further explorations on the reader's part. ( )

You've got to be seriously interested in either Gandhi or India (or both) to check a 1100 page book out of the library. I am, and I found Guha's second biography of Gandhi, covering the last 37 years of life to be an engaging read. Guha,as he did in his earlier Gandhi book, Gandhi Before India, relies on outside sources as much as on Gandhi's collected works. These include contemporary news articles, letters to and from Gandhi and speeches and essays by Gandhi's allies and opponents. When I finished this book, I knew a good deal more about Gandhi and his impact than I had before; what most impressed me was Gandhi's evolution, even in his last year of life, always in the direction of greater compassion and commitment to the dignity and rights of all human beings. I may perhaps never write this in a review again, but this was a truly edifying book. ( )