PositiveLos Angeles Review of BooksThe book, written in engaging prose, takes the reader on a step-by-step journey, episode by engrossing episode. Guha decides which stations to halt and spend some time at, and he does it with great care ... An honest narrator of the various complexities of the Mahatma’s life, Guha has taken care to treat his material evenly, with balance and proportion. One descends into his book as one would into a mine, deciding for oneself what to extract from the wealth of Gandhi’s life ... The book has at least three remarkable aspects. First, there are the Mahatma’s encounters with non-political figures, which generate rare amusements for the reader ... A second significant feature of the book is its chronicling of Gandhi’s daily routine, with all its peculiarities ... Finally, the book details the complexity of Gandhi’s relationships with dominant political figures ... As for motivations and deeper causes, one is left to speculate, because Guha does not pass judgment. He is careful not to promise or offer any grand narrative: there is no central argument or even much critical analysis. And perhaps this is the book’s biggest disappointment: the author doesn’t dwell on the whys of Gandhi’s life. On the other hand, Guha’s biography excels at delineating the voluminous whats of that life, capturing the many layers of Gandhi’s vivid and historically consequential experiences. For Gandhi scholars, the book has much to offer ... A biography of this scope often raises a number of questions...[for which] Guha doesn’t provide an adequate answer ... Guha’s massive efforts to recreate [Gandhi\'s] life and message are laudable.
