Gandhi's passion : the life and legacy of Mahatma Gandhi / Stanley Wolpert.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wolpert, Stanley, 1927-2019.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Gandhi, Mahatma, 1869-1948.

Gandhi.

Statesmen--India--Biography.

Statesmen.

India.

Nationalists--India--Biography.

Nationalists.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xii, 308 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2001.

Summary:

Mahatma Gandhi, Through His Indomitable Will and Selfless Determination, Transformed himself into a model of courage and integrity for India's people to emulate in their nonviolent struggle for political power. More than half a century after his death, Gandhi continues to inspire millions throughout the world. Yet modern India seems to have abandoned much of his nonviolent vision, joining the nuclear arms race. Inspired by recent events in India, Stanley Wolpert offers this subtle and profound biography of India's "Great Soul."

Wolpert compellingly chronicles the life of Mahatma Gandhi from his early days as a child of privilege to his humble rise to power and his assassination at the hands of a man of his own faith. This trajectory, like that of Christ, was the result of Gandhi's passion: his conscious courting of suffering as the means of reaching divine truth. From his early campaigns to end discrimination in South Africa to his leadership of a people's revolution to end the British imperial domination of India, Gandhi emerges as a man of inner conflicts conquered by his political genius and moral vision. Early influenced by nonviolent teachings in Hinduism, Jainism, Christianity, and Buddhism, he came to insist on the primacy of love for one's adversary in any conflict as the invincible power for change. He fearlessly courted suffering and imprisonment in pursuit of his moral vision. The sweet reasonableness of his "Great Soul," combined with the steel of his unyielding opposition to intolerance and oppression, would inspire India like no leader had since the Buddha -- creating a legacy that would encourage Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, and other global leaders to demand a better world through peaceful civil disobedience.

Gandhi's Passion is a remarkable tribute by a historian at the height of his narrative and analytical powers. Wolpert boldly considers Gandhi the man, rather than the living god depicted by his disciples. He thus provides an unprecedented representation of Gandhi's passionate personality and the profound complexities that compelled his actions and brought freedom to India.

Contents:

1 Midnight in Calcutta 7

2 Dawn in Gujarat 13

3 The Impact of Victorian London 20

4 Brief Interlude at Home 28

5 Early Traumas and Triumphs in South Africa 34

6 Between Two Worlds 42

7 Satyagraha in South Africa 50

8 Victory through Suffering 67

9 The Impact of World War I 82

10 Postwar Carnage and Nationwide Satyagraha 99

11 Cotton Spinning 115

12 Rising of the Poison 127

13 The Road Back to Satyagraha 135

14 The Salt March and Prison Aftermath 144

15 From Prison to London and Back 152

16 Imprisoned Soul of India 165

17 Return to Rural Uplift Work 174

18 Prelude to War and Partition 182

19 War and Peaceful Resistance 191

20 War behind Bars 205

21 No Peace 213

22 Walking Alone 224

23 Freedom's Wooden Loaf 237

24 Great Soul's Death in Delhi 243

25 His Indian Legacy 257

26 His Global Legacy 264.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 299-302) and index.

ISBN:

019513060X

OCLC:

45008464