This is an academic book on comparative political thought with focus on Gandhian political philosophy. Written against the background of the Second World War in 1945, the book analyses the politico-economic causes of the two World Wars and discusses some political systems along with the Gandhian system, which establishes its superiority and relevance to modern world. The 291 page book in Hindi was awarded the Mangala Prasad Paritoshik, a prestigious award in the Hindi world. The cultural roots and implications of Gandhian philosophy have also been discussed quoting freely from Hindu scriptures. The book’s originality lies in the author’s successful attempt to connect Gandhian system with Indian culture and philosophy and how the Indian approach to the life and world differs from that of the West. Without boasting to be a Gandhi specialist, the writer says, “I have tried to present Gandhi the way I have understood him. The only objective is to attract the attention of thinking society towards the ideas of the man who is inspired merely by welfare of the world, from whose each pore the painful music of trampled humanity is echoing...I ventured to write in spite of my limitations because I am a devotee of Hindu culture.” Being a student of History, the writer has a perceptive historical sense which provides him a mature perspective to world problems. Documented with contemporary scholarship, the book also contains a table of the then world industrial force. Though written in jail in 1945 the book has relevance today because of world situation and the fact that Gandhi’s vision is still relevant. The book should prove useful to the student, researcher, and general reader both in the country and abroad.
Kamalapati Tripathi (1905-1990) the writer, journalist, editor and freedom fighter was one of the few public figures who are capable of wielding power and pen with equal ease. He had written ten books on subjects ranging from Indian, Chinese, and Turkish history, Journalism, National Movement, and Gandhi and had edited nine magazines, dailies and weeklies. His Acharya (M.A.) dissertation on India During Mauryan Period was his first book. With his sound knowledge of Sanskrit and western sources, he commands grip over the subject and because of his thorough knowledge of Indian culture he delves deep into Gandhian thought. He had a long and sustained love with Gandhi which is manifested in his three books and many articles on him. The present book is considered his best on the subject.
Prabhat Kumar Pandeya, Ph.D., is Reader in English at the Benaras Hindu University. He has translated from English into Hindi and vice versa. Himself a poet writing both in English and Hindi, he has published verse translations of poems in Hindi by John Donne, Shakespeare, Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot and Allen Ginsburg. He has also translated Tripathi’s last book, Freedom Movement and Afterwards. Currently he is translating into English religious hymns to Hindu deities.
