Gandhi: A Memoir

At the beginning of the 1930s, historian William L. Shirer was sent to India by the Chicago Tribune to cover the rise of the Independence Movement. During this time Shirer was privileged to observe Mahatma Gandhi as he launched the Civil Disobedience Campaign and to enjoy his personal friendship and confidence.In this fascinating memoir, Shirer writes perceptively and unforgettably about Gandhi�??s frailties as well as his accomplishments. Despite his greatness, Gandhi was the first to admit that he was a human being with his own prejudices and peculiarities: he could be stubborn and dictatorial, yet the magnificence of the man rose above all else.Gandhi: A Memoir sheds a special light on the man who left such an indelible imprint on India and the wor… (more)

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LibraryThing member alittlebitdifferant

Shirer was an American journalist in the world of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, who happened to be in the right place at the right time - first with Gandhi, then with Hitler and his murderous gang and then in San Francisco, where the UN was being born. After the devilish inspired Berlin Diary, Death

of Berlin Diary and The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich - well, I can almost see Shirer thinking "what now?"

A result was this book in the 1970s - documenting his journey to India and to Gandhi, some 50 years previously. As usual, Shirer is on form doing what he does best - telling what he saw and did with the great man and saying what Shirer thought, both in the 1920s and 1970s. Shirer's genius is the grounding of greatness of man in the particular mundane details. The image for me of Shirer's Gandhi? - a coughing old man, dressed in home-spun cloth, walking miles in Simla to meet the Viceroy - with the steely purpose of freeing India! Awe-inspiring.

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