Ebook: Gandhi: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

For those seeking a very brief introduction to Gandhi's life and thought, this ought to do the trick. At one point in my life I read intensely if briefly about Gandhi, reading a couple of dozen books by and on him. This book would not break into the books that I would most recommend, but it would be one that I would recommend as a possible first book. Parekh has a deep understanding of the context of Gandhi's thought, which was not purely Indian despite being largely grounded in Hinduism, with major outside influences.

The book is stronger on Gandhi's thought than his life. The biographical details are, in fact, quite minimal, but many books emphasize Gandhi the person so much more than Gandhi the thinker, this is a welcome correction. Although anyone wanting to know about Gandhi should immediately go on from this to read a good biography on Gandhi (the classic biography by Louis Fischer remains a great first read about Gandhi, though the best English language biography is that by Judith Brown), as well as Gandhi's own so-called autobiography, this gives one a glimpse into what made Gandhi click.

Anyone wanting to know about Gandhi should plan minimally on reading as well an anthology of Gandhi's own writings in addition to the autobiography (the three-volume edition edited by Iyer is the best), as well as the aforementioned books by Fischer and Brown. I also strongly recommend the book on Gandhi by Ved Mehta, which is deeply insightful and refutes many Western misunderstandings of his thought. Gandhi is one of the most inspirational figures of the past century. The impact on my own life has been considerable. It was because of him that I became a vegetarian and through his reverence for life I became deeply interested in showing respect for all humans and nonhumans. Definitely read this book, but plan on reading much more. Gandhi is not one of the great systematic thinkers of our age, but he is one of the most moral and visionary. He also combined idealism and pragmatism more successfully than any other figure I can name.