Jamelle wells biography of mahatma

First published in 1993, Dennis Dalton's iconoclastic account of Gandhi's political and intellectual development gained prominence for its balance and extensive research, as well as its portrayal of Gandhi as a deeply human and complex force. Focusing on the leader's two signal triumphs: the civil disobedience movement (or salt satyagraha) of 1930 and the Calcutta fast of 1947, Dalton makes clear that Gandhi's lifelong career in national politics gave him the opportunity to develop and refine his ideals. He controversially concludes with a comparison of Gandhi's methods and the strategies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, proposing a fascinating juxtaposition that not only enriches the biography of all three figures but also proves Gandhi's relevance to the study of race and political leadership in America. A new afterword situates Gandhi within the "clash of civilizations" debate, identifying the implications for continuing nonviolent protests. Dalton also conducts an extensive overview of Gandhian studies and includes a detailed chronology of events in Gandhi's life and leadership.

I’ve had some indignant comments about my reference to India as the great disappointment of the 20th century. But I stand by it, and in fact I’ll be still more provocative: One of the reasons for the disappointment was the influence of people like Gandhi and Nehru.

Mahatma Gandhi was, in my book, the greatest human of the 20th century, maybe of the second millennium. He was not only an extraordinary humanitarian, who tried to overcome caste and improve hygiene in India, but also a crafty politician who won India its independence. Yet his surpassing achievement was his willingness to stand up to his fellow Hindus at the time of independence. When other Indians were ready to give Pakistan a raw deal and deprive it of cash it needed, when Hindus were busy slaughtering Muslims (and the other way around), it was Gandhi who traveled the country and demanded that Hindus bend over backward to be fair. He went on a hunger strike to force Nehru and his other colleagues to share India’s finances more fairly with Pakistan — at that moment, as he lay old and famished on his mat during his hunger strike, the crowd outside chanted, “Let Gandhi Die!” His persistence reflected a moral courage even greater than his vast physical courage.

So Gandhi was a great, great, great man. So was Nehru. But they had awful ideas about economics. Gandhi carried his spinning wheel around the country, and had antiquated and nostalgic notions of self-sufficiency and improving craftsmanship as the basis for India’s economy. He wanted everybody to spend an hour a day spinning cotton and wear homespun, and his ideas (and Nehru’s socialism) helped infect India with a deep suspicion of trade, investment and globalization. The upshot was that India stagnated, and its socialism was very influential around the third world. Only now is India realizing that it can exploit the West at the same time that the West exploits it, and that the way to help I