Gandhi - M. J. Akbar

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, justly venerated as a Mahatma, dismantled the mightiest empire in world history through the inspirational power of three pivotal mass campaigns across two decades. In 1920 Gandhi liberated Indians from fear through the unprecedented mass mobilization of the non-cooperation movement. In 1930 he turned a pinch of salt into a metaphor for the punitive, heartless colonial exploitation of the impoverished. The 1942 call to ‘Quit India’ sent a final, unambiguous message to foreign overlords: Indians would prefer to die rather than live in British fetters. Once Gandhi had unchained India, history could no longer remain dormant. Akbar draws on historical archives and contemporary narratives to vividly depict the mass ferment and individual protest that swept across the subcontinent. The combination of meticulous scholarship with riveting storytelling, make Gandhi in Three Campaigns an unmissable fresh portrait of an icon and a time.