Nor are over-cynical, nit-picky biographies of particular interest to any reader. In an India in which Nehru is trashed by far lesser people, this book is a indeed a welcome view of one of the giants of 20th century politics. Walter Crocker's book is a generous and erudite reading of Jawaharlal Nehru, as told by a diplomat who clearly had a great deal of respect for the Indian freedom fighter and Prime Minister but who was not blind to Nehru's faults and over-reaches. The book is a brief yet revealing account of Nehru's policies, his men and other affairs. Ramachandra Guha calls this "the most judicious and balanced of the works on Nehru", though he clarifies that by "work" he means "short study". While there is little in the book about Nehru's famously complicated personal life other than what a fascinated and rather impressed high commissioner was able to observe there are many and telling observations about his public conduct and behaviour, about the thought and ideas behind the course of modernisation that Nehru and his colleagues set in motion for India.
And yet he was drawn to Nehru’s intellect and to his politics sufficiently to go beyond the call of diplomatic duty to analyse Nehru’s impact on his times, with disinterested interest.There are so many books and so much written about Nehru, but almost nothing with such instantly illuminating effect as this superb little estimate by an Australian diplomat of Nehru's times. In fact, he rather admired some of Nehru’s democratic opponents more - like, for instance, C Rajagopalachari and Jayaprakash Narayan. And yet, in the best traditions of democracy, he chose to analyse the pluses and minuses of his adversary and the bitters, sweets and sours of his political leadership, with what Hiren babu would not have liked being said of him: real “class”.Ĭrocker, Australia’s High Commissioner to India was no blind admirer of the Prime Minister of the country he was accredited to. Mukherjee was a political opponent of Nehru from India’s Left, sparing no occasion in Parliament or outside it, to upbraid his policies and programmes. It critiqued the man, sharply and frontally, while acknowledging his unique impact on his times. This collection of essays was published in his lifetime and was, therefore, valuable as an assessment of the man in real time. Gopalkrishna Gandhi, former governor of West Bengal The standard and still unsurpassed life, based on unprecedented access to Nehru’s papers.
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