In an exploration of three charismatic leaders, B.R. Nanda—one of India’s foremost historians of the freedom movement—makes a comparative study of their backgrounds, temperaments, and ideologies. He analyses in detail how they differed significantly in manner and style but shared a common vision of the unity and freedom of India. Followed by the introduction, in three separate works, Nanda examines the lives of these three leaders in relation to their eras. These, therefore, are both biographies and histories of critical times—relating personalities to periods and leaders to the societies they lived in. The volume focuses on the inter-relationship between their ideas and methods and how these remain relevant today. The past, says Nanda, as seen through the lives of Gokhale, Gandhi, and Nehru, informs the present and has many lessons for India and the world today.

Table of Contents:
Preface Introduction to the Omnibus Gokhale The Indian Moderates and the British Raj BOOK I: FORMATIVE YEARS 1. Early Life 2. Ferment in Maharashtra 3. Emergence of the Educated Elite 4. The Indian Jesuits 5. Apprenticed to Ranade 6. The Young Politician 7. Professor Gokhale 8. On the Congress Platform 9. The Great Split 10. The Rising Star 11. Eclipsed 12. The Clouds Lift 13. Triumph BOOK II: SPOKESMAN FOR THE MODERATES 14. Gokhale Comes of Age 15. Wanted, A Leader 16. Servant of India 17. Clash with Curzon 18. Envoy Extraordinary 19. Congress President 20. Advocate for India BOOK III: CONFRONTATIONS, WITHIN AND WITHOUT 21. Morley’s Dilemma 22. The Extremist Challenge 23. The Widening Rift 24. Crisis in the Raj 25. Road to Surat 26. Reforms on the Anvil 27. Climax 28. Origins of Muslim Separatism 29. Gokhale and the Communal Problem 30. Separate Electorates 31. Anticlimax 32. A House Divided Against Itself 33. Détente 34. Leader of the Opposition 35. Educating the Masses BOOK IV: THE LAST PHASE 36. Educating the British 37. Gandhi and Gokhale 38. Crisis in South Africa 39. The Last Battle 40. No Reunion 41. Last Days 42. ‘The Greatest Indian’ 43. The End of an Era; Bibliography; Index. Mahatma Gandhi A Biography Preface 1. Childhood 2. Off to England 3. Briefless Barrister 4. A Fateful Journey 5. Plunge into Politics 6. Lynched 7. Stones for Bread 8. The Religious Quest 9. Transformation 10. Discovery of Satyagraha 11. First Satyagraha Movement 12. Second Round 13. Final Phase 14. A Hero on Probation 15. Indian Nationalism 16. Splendid Isolation 17. Shadow of Amritsar 18. Road to Rebellion 19. Swaraj within a Year 20. Climax 21. Anticlimax? 22. Councils and Communities 23. From the Bottom Up 24. The Rising Tempo 25. Year of Grace 26. Civil Disobedience 27. Truce 28. The Round Table Conference 29. Total War 30. Harijans 31. Rural Economics 32. Congress in Office 33. The Genesis of Pakistan 34. India and the War 35. The Widening Rift 36. Quit India 37. No Defeat 38. The Coming of Independence 39. Quenching the Flames 40. Victory of the Vanquished; Epilogue; Index. Jawaharlal Nehru Rebel and Statesman 1. The Young Nationalist 2. The Triumvirate: Gandhi, Motilal, and Jawaharlal 3. Gandhi and Jawaharlal 4.Playing for High Stakes 5. Nehru and Bose 6. Nehru and Religion 7. Jawaharlal Nehru and the Partition of India 8. Azad, Nehru, and Partition 9. Nehru and Socialism 10. Letters to Chief Ministers 11. Economic Planning 12. Nehru and Non-Alignment 13. Nehru and the British 14. Nehru as a Man of Letters 15. The Autobiography 16. An Overview; Index.