Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography, Volume 1: 1889-1947 by Sarvepalli Gopal

Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography, Volume 1: 1889-1947 Reviews

• 
  Vik

  On 3rd August 1947 Sardar Patel wrote a beautiful letter to Jawaharlal Nehru:
  “My services will be at your disposal, I hope, for the rest of my life you will have unquestioned loyalty and devotion from me in the cause for which no man in India has sacrificed as much as you have done. Our combination is unbreakable and therein lies our strength”
  
  
  Whenever I find people talking about Jawaharlal Nehru, in some stupid sense of entitlement, I feel as if: they are talking about my hero. Just as Aristotle is the Philosopher, Nehru is unquestionably the statesman.
  
  Normally after consuming four to five biographies on the same subject by writers of different generations, ideologies and countries- the possibility of learning something new becomes very grim (except in case secret documents get declassified). However even after a history of reading and reviewing more than fifteen books on Nehru I still discovered so much valuable insight in this Jawaharlal Nehru’s biography (3 Vol.) by S. Gopal.
  
  In the mist of a heated college debate, my leftist friend once accused me in a funny tone, “You admire Nehru only because you want to defend him.” I must confess with some admission of guilt, there is some partial validity in her farcical remark- I deliberately discuss Karl Marx with disciples of Adam Smith, farmers’ problems with capitalists, John Rawl with Ayn Rand lovers, Charles Darwin with Bible belt, Salman Rushdie with Muslim fanatics, Hannah Arendt with Jews, Jawaharlal Nehru with Hindutatva zealots and so on.
  
  However I don’t do it to outrage them (it will be though) but primarily for selfish reasons- I cannot think of a better cause where our energy should go than defending what we find beautiful and worth fighting for. If our conviction and ideas are stronger than theirs then we must withstand the most rigorous scrutiny because as Paine famously said, "It is error only, and not truth, that shrinks from inquiry".
  
  
  
  
  
• 
  Kevin McAvoy

  Good and balanced account of Nehru up to date of partition Aug 15,1947.
  Or the date of Indias freedom from colonial rule if you prefer.
  Will get to 2nd volume soon.