• ISBN13: 9780199466894
• Binding: Hardcover
• Subject: History
• Publisher: Oxford UP
• Publisher Imprint: Oxford UP
• Publication Date: September 12, 2016
• Pages: 212
• Original Price: INR 695.0
• Language: English
• Edition: N/A
• Item Weight: 360 grams

Millions in India have long been obsessed with the vicissitudes of the Nehru–Gandhi family’s fate. Inextricably linked to the ups and downs of their lives was the future of the nation itself. It was Jawaharlal Nehru’s leadership that guided India onto the world stage as a modern nation. Despite the varied scholarship of Nehruvian studies, one important aspect—the experiences of the Nehrus in prison during the national movement—has received only scant consideration. This book addresses that omission by highlighting the significance of prison time in shaping the lives of the members of this illustrious family. For Motilal and Jawaharlal Nehru, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit and Krishna Hutheesing, among others, serving prison time was much more than just a marker of participation in the Independence movement. The grim walls of jail provided the place and time to the Nehrus to reflect on and give direction to the nationalist struggle. Such important literary works as Glimpses of World History and Discovery of India, which remain timeless in their appeal, were crafted in gaol. In tracing the intellectual biography of the Nehru–Gandhi family, this book documents the ethos of an entire era during the colonial period.

Mushirul Hasan is former Professor of History and Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi (2004–9). He has also served as the Director General of the National Archives of India (2010–13) and was conferred the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship (2013–15) by the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund, New Delhi. He was elected President of the Indian History Congress (Modern India) in 2002 and its General President in 2014. He was the recipient of the Padma Shri in 2007.