India's political and spiritual leader, Mahatma ("Great Soul") Gandhi led his country's struggle for independence from Britain through a campaign based on nonviolence and civil disobedience. Gandhi's doctrine of nonviolent action profoundly influenced civil rights leaders around the world, including Martin Luther King, Jr., and Nelson Mandela. This anthology of the Mahatma's writings offers a revealing look at his life and philosophy. Editor Ronald Duncan provides a lengthy introduction in which he recounts his personal association with Gandhi. "In making this selection," he notes, "I have tried to bear three things in firstly, my intention to present material of permanent interest as opposed to comments on day-to-day political matters; also to show the development and to give the essence of Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy of Satyagraha [defense of and by the truth], and its basis in the religious teachings of the Gita; and thirdly, I have tried to emphasize those ideas which, though they may not seem immediately applicable to Western life, should be of considerable relevance to contemporary thought." In addition to substantial extracts from Gandhi's writings, this collection features his speeches—including some made during his trials—and extracts from his diary. The book concludes with a selection of Gandhi's correspondence with Lord Linlithgow, then Viceroy of India, and their reflections on the country's future.
Author
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, commonly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was the preeminent leader of Indian nationalism in British-ruled India. Employing non-violent civil disobedience, Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for non-violence, civil rights and freedom across the world. The son of a senior government official, Gandhi was born and raised in a Hindu Bania community in coastal Gujarat, and trained in law in London. Gandhi became famous by fighting for the civil rights of Muslim and Hindu Indians in South Africa, using new techniques of non-violent civil disobedience that he developed. Returning to India in 1915, he set about organizing peasants to protest excessive land-taxes. A lifelong opponent of "communalism" (i.e. basing politics on religion) he reached out widely to all religious groups. He became a leader of Muslims protesting the declining status of the Caliphate. Assuming leadership of the Indian National Congress in 1921, Gandhi led nationwide campaigns for easing poverty, expanding women's rights, building religious and ethnic amity, ending untouchability, increasing economic self-reliance, and above all for achieving Swaraj—the independence of India from British domination. His spiritual teacher was the Jain philosopher/poet Shrimad Rajchandra.
