Indira Gandhi, A Biography Paperback – May 1, 1995

Great book to read

Maybe slightly biased given that the author and Mrs. Gandhi were close friends. But overall a good read to know the person and the political diaspora in India during the 60s/70s/80s.

The intimacy of Pupul Jayakar to Indira Gandhi is both a great strength and fatal flaw of this biography. Jayakar makes no claims to impartiality. Which is just as well. The narrative attempts to locate Mrs Gandhi in Indian myth as some form of goddess or Durga type figure. Jayakar's criticisms of her subject are never direct. Mrs Gandhi is not held responsible for the calamity of the Emergency years-that is the fault of her son Sanjay...who she just loved too darn much. Serious charges of corruption, nepotism etc are never examined in any detail. However, what is revealing about this book is the access that Jayakar had to Mrs Gandhi during some very important passages of her life. The book is better still when not immediately concerned with Indira, but in it's analysis of Indian and international politics at large. This biography is an absorbing introduction to the life and times of Indira Gandhi, a life devoted to the service of India, however I would look elsewhere for greater rigour.

Worst quality ever. Got the book brand new and the pages came torn. The book continues to shed leaves of pages.