We look forward to seeing you on your next visit to the library. Find a location near you.

Gandhi & Churchill: The Epic Rivalry that Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age
(Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read)

Book Cover
Average Rating
Published:
Random House Publishing Group 2008
Status:
Available from OverDrive
Description
In this fascinating and meticulously researched book, bestselling historian Arthur Herman sheds new light on two of the most universally recognizable icons of the twentieth century, and reveals how their forty-year rivalry sealed the fate of India and the British Empire.
They were born worlds apart: Winston Churchill to Britain’s most glamorous aristocratic family, Mohandas Gandhi to a pious middle-class household in a provincial town in India. Yet Arthur Herman reveals how their lives and careers became intertwined as the twentieth century unfolded. Both men would go on to lead their nations through harrowing trials and two world wars—and become locked in a fierce contest of wills that would decide the fate of countries, continents, and ultimately an empire.
Gandhi & Churchill reveals how both men were more alike than different, and yet became bitter enemies over the future of India, a land of 250 million people with 147 languages and dialects and 15 distinct religions—the jewel in the crown of Britain’s overseas empire for 200 years.
Over the course of a long career, Churchill would do whatever was necessary to ensure that India remain British—including a fateful redrawing of the entire map of the Middle East and even risking his alliance with the United States during World War Two.
Mohandas Gandhi, by contrast, would dedicate his life to India’s liberation, defy death and imprisonment, and create an entirely new kind of political movement: satyagraha, or civil disobedience. His campaigns of nonviolence in defiance of Churchill and the British, including his famous Salt March, would become the blueprint not only for the independence of India but for the civil rights movement in the U.S. and struggles for freedom across the world.
Now master storyteller Arthur Herman cuts through the legends and myths about these two powerful, charismatic figures and reveals their flaws as well as their strengths. The result is a sweeping epic of empire and insurrection, war and political intrigue, with a fascinating supporting cast, including General Kitchener, Rabindranath Tagore, Franklin Roosevelt, Lord Mountbatten, and Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. It is also a brilliant narrative parable of two men whose great successes were always haunted by personal failure, and whose final moments of triumph were overshadowed by the loss of what they held most dear.
Also in This Series
Formats
Adobe EPUB eBook
Works on all eReaders (except Kindles), desktop computers and mobile devices with reading apps installed.
Kindle Book
Works on Kindles and devices with a Kindle app installed.
OverDrive Read
Need Help?
If you are having problem transferring a title to your device, please fill out this support form or visit the library so we can help you to use our eBooks and eAudio Books.
More Like This
Other Editions and Formats
More Copies In LINK+
Loading LINK+ Copies...
More Details
Format:
Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read
Street Date:
04/29/2008
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780553905045
ASIN:
B000YJ66ZU
Reviews from GoodReads
Loading GoodReads Reviews.
Citations
APA Citation (style guide)

Arthur Herman. (2008). Gandhi & Churchill: The Epic Rivalry that Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age. Random House Publishing Group.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

Arthur Herman. 2008. Gandhi & Churchill: The Epic Rivalry That Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age. Random House Publishing Group.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

Arthur Herman, Gandhi & Churchill: The Epic Rivalry That Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age. Random House Publishing Group, 2008.

MLA Citation (style guide)

Arthur Herman. Gandhi & Churchill: The Epic Rivalry That Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age. Random House Publishing Group, 2008.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
Copy Details
LibraryOwnedAvailable
Shared Digital Collection11
Staff View
Grouped Work ID:
b1304552-683b-afcb-ea13-8f9d4253b29d
Go To Grouped Work
Needs Update?:
No
Date Added:
Jun 12, 2018 18:21:17
Date Updated:
Dec 07, 2020 20:21:39
Last Metadata Check:
Mar 24, 2024 09:50:05
Last Metadata Change:
Jun 04, 2023 15:07:56
Last Availability Check:
Mar 24, 2024 09:50:08
Last Availability Change:
Feb 11, 2024 13:17:49
Last Grouped Work Modification Time:
Mar 28, 2024 02:11:39

OverDrive Product Record

images
    • cover:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/0111-1/{9F9F6211-1374-4D54-B3D4-5E583131507C}Img100.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • thumbnail:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/0111-1/{9F9F6211-1374-4D54-B3D4-5E583131507C}Img200.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover150Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/0111-1/9F9/F62/11/{9F9F6211-1374-4D54-B3D4-5E583131507C}Img150.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover300Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/0111-1/9F9/F62/11/{9F9F6211-1374-4D54-B3D4-5E583131507C}Img400.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
formats
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780553905045
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 78906
      • name: Adobe EPUB eBook
      • id: ebook-epub-adobe
      • identifiers:
            • type: ASIN
            • value: B000YJ66ZU
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 78906
      • name: Kindle Book
      • id: ebook-kindle
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780553905045
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 78906
      • name: OverDrive Read
      • id: ebook-overdrive
otherFormatIdentifiers
      • type: ISBN
      • value: 0553804634
mediaType
eBook
primaryCreator
    • role: Author
    • name: Arthur Herman
title
Gandhi & Churchill
dateAdded
2015-01-20T11:43:00-05:00
contentDetails
      • href: https://link.overdrive.com/?websiteID=141&titleID=147845
      • type: text/html
      • account:
          • name: Sacramento Public Library (CA)
          • id: 1151
sortTitle
Gandhi and Churchill The Epic Rivalry that Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age
crossRefId
147845
subtitle
The Epic Rivalry that Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age
id
9f9f6211-1374-4d54-b3d4-5e583131507c
starRating
4.3

OverDrive MetaData

isPublicDomain
False
formats
      • fileName: GandhiChurchill_9780553905045_147845
      • partCount: 0
      • fileSize: 4178006
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780553905045
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 78906
      • rights:
            • type: Copying
            • value: 0
            • type: Printing
            • value: 0
            • type: Lending
            • value: 0
            • type: ReadAloud
            • value: 0
            • type: ExpirationRights
            • value: 0
      • name: Adobe EPUB eBook
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: ebook-epub-adobe
      • onSaleDate: 4/29/2008
      • samples:
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-epub-adobe
            • url: https://excerpts.cdn.overdrive.com/FormatType-410/0111-1/9F9/F62/11/GandhiandChurchillTheEpicRivalrythatD9780553905045.epub
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=9F9F6211-1374-4D54-B3D4-5E583131507C&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
      • fileName: GandhiChurchill_147845
      • partCount: 0
      • fileSize: 0
      • identifiers:
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 78906
            • type: ASIN
            • value: B000YJ66ZU
      • name: Kindle Book
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: ebook-kindle
      • onSaleDate: 4/29/2008
      • samples:
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-epub-adobe
            • url: https://excerpts.cdn.overdrive.com/FormatType-410/0111-1/9F9/F62/11/GandhiandChurchillTheEpicRivalrythatD9780553905045.epub
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=9F9F6211-1374-4D54-B3D4-5E583131507C&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
      • fileName: GandhiChurchill_9780553905045_147845
      • partCount: 0
      • fileSize: 0
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780553905045
            • type: PublisherCatalogNumber
            • value: 78906
      • name: OverDrive Read
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: ebook-overdrive
      • onSaleDate: 4/29/2008
      • samples:
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-epub-adobe
            • url: https://excerpts.cdn.overdrive.com/FormatType-410/0111-1/9F9/F62/11/GandhiandChurchillTheEpicRivalrythatD9780553905045.epub
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=9F9F6211-1374-4D54-B3D4-5E583131507C&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
keywords
      • value: politics
      • value: Biography
      • value: Gandhi
      • value: Historical
      • value: non fiction
      • value: culture
      • value: BIOS
      • value: society
      • value: non-fiction
      • value: britain
      • value: Social Studies
      • value: memories
      • value: Social History
      • value: Churchill
      • value: England
      • value: British Empire
      • value: Great Britain
      • value: true story
      • value: Inspirational
      • value: inspiration
      • value: biographies
      • value: History
      • value: Winston Churchill
      • value: cultural history
      • value: narrative nonfiction
      • value: India
      • value: Motivational
      • value: Imperialism
      • value: True stories
      • value: Biographical
      • value: nonfiction books
      • value: history books
      • value: History book
      • value: biography autobiography
      • value: historical non fiction
      • value: historical non fiction books
      • value: non fiction history books
creators
      • role: Author
      • fileAs: Herman, Arthur
      • bioText: Arthur Herman is the bestselling author of How the Scots Invented the Modern World, which has sold over 350,000 copies worldwide, and To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World, which was nominated for the prestigious Mountbatten Prize in 2005. He is a former professor of history at Georgetown University, Catholic University, and the Smithsonian’s Campus on the Mall. He and his wife live in central Virginia.
      • name: Arthur Herman
imprint
Bantam
publishDate
2008-04-29T00:00:00-04:00
isOwnedByCollections
True
title
Gandhi & Churchill
fullDescription
In this fascinating and meticulously researched book, bestselling historian Arthur Herman sheds new light on two of the most universally recognizable icons of the twentieth century, and reveals how their forty-year rivalry sealed the fate of India and the British Empire.
They were born worlds apart: Winston Churchill to Britain’s most glamorous aristocratic family, Mohandas Gandhi to a pious middle-class household in a provincial town in India. Yet Arthur Herman reveals how their lives and careers became intertwined as the twentieth century unfolded. Both men would go on to lead their nations through harrowing trials and two world wars—and become locked in a fierce contest of wills that would decide the fate of countries, continents, and ultimately an empire.
Gandhi & Churchill reveals how both men were more alike than different, and yet became bitter enemies over the future of India, a land of 250 million people with 147 languages and dialects and 15 distinct religions—the jewel in the crown of Britain’s overseas empire for 200 years.
Over the course of a long career, Churchill would do whatever was necessary to ensure that India remain British—including a fateful redrawing of the entire map of the Middle East and even risking his alliance with the United States during World War Two.
Mohandas Gandhi, by contrast, would dedicate his life to India’s liberation, defy death and imprisonment, and create an entirely new kind of political movement: satyagraha, or civil disobedience. His campaigns of nonviolence in defiance of Churchill and the British, including his famous Salt March, would become the blueprint not only for the independence of India but for the civil rights movement in the U.S. and struggles for freedom across the world.
Now master storyteller Arthur Herman cuts through the legends and myths about these two powerful, charismatic figures and reveals their flaws as well as their strengths. The result is a sweeping epic of empire and insurrection, war and political intrigue, with a fascinating supporting cast, including General Kitchener, Rabindranath Tagore, Franklin Roosevelt, Lord Mountbatten, and Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. It is also a brilliant narrative parable of two men whose great successes were always haunted by personal failure, and whose final moments of triumph were overshadowed by the loss of what they held most dear.
reviews
      • premium: False
      • source: Carlo D'Este, author of Patton: A Genius For War and Eisenhower: A Soldier's Life
      • content: "Gandhi & Churchill is a powerful tale of the monumental clash between two of the giants of the twentieth century. Set against the backdrop of war and conflict, this brilliant dual biography of strong-willed visionaries locked in a struggle each believed in makes for compelling reading. Arthur Herman has written a masterful and superbly well researched account of the lives of two men who have had a profound influence on the world in which we live in today that will long stand as a testament to their legacy."
      • premium: False
      • source: Pramit Pal Chaudhuri, The Hindustan Times, Bernard Schwartz Fellow, Asia Society
      • content: "A fast-paced narrative history...Herman brings to life the twilight of the British Empire and reminds us how the twists and turns of fate helped propel these two men to their places in history. He shows us that there was more common ground between the two than most realize and that the seemingly simple tale of the imperialist and the nationalist is far more nuanced than it seems."
      • premium: False
      • source: Richard M. Langworth, Editor, Finest Hour
      • content: "Cutting through decades of narrow or shallow reporting, Arthur Herman offers a balanced and elegant account which captures both Churchill's generosity of spirit and Gandhi's greatness of soul. While recognizing their faults, he shows what motivated them and made them great--with impressive research that in Churchill's words leaves "no stone unturned, no cutlet uncooked." The last two chapters, and the author's Conclusion, are alone worth the price of what must become the standard work on the subject."
      • premium: False
      • source: Wall Street Journal
      • content: "The rivalry between Winston Churchill and Mohandas Gandhi could hardly have been played for higher stakes. The future of British India hung upon the outcome of their 20-year struggle.... As one might expect from the author of To Rule the Waves, a fine history ... Mr. Herman has researched Gandhi & Churchill meticulously and written it fluently."
      • premium: False
      • source: Publishers Weekly
      • content: "A forceful portrait of the emergence of the postcolonial era in the fateful contrast--and surprising affinities--between two historic figures.... Fascinating."
      • premium: False
      • source: Washington Post Book World
      • content: "Herman's book focuses on two imposing figures who epitomized the clash .... he has probed beneath the stereotypes... [and] tells their stories stylishly and eloquently."
      • premium: False
      • source: India Today
      • content: "Herman's storytelling style is engaging, giving new life to stories we have already heard and even forgotten.... Then there are the surprises.... Provocative, intriguing, even controversial."
      • premium: False
      • source: Booklist
      • content: " Brisk narrative flow.... Showing history eluding Gandhi and Churchill, Herman provocatively presents their efforts to shape it."
      • premium: False
      • source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
      • content: "Exhaustively detailed."
      • premium: True
      • source: Publisher's Weekly
      • content:

        March 10, 2008
        Historian Herman (How the Scots Invented the Modern World
        ) paints a forceful portrait of the emergence of the postcolonial era in the fateful contrast—and surprising affinities—between two historic figures on opposite sides of the struggle for Indian independence. Churchill and Gandhi, both elites in their respective milieus, began their careers with remarkably similar perspectives and trod intersecting paths across India, South Africa and England. They shared an obsession with physical courage (albeit channeled in different ways) that tied conceptions of masculinity to larger ideas of racial identity and moral superiority—and India loomed large in their triumphal careers, ultimately frustrating both men’s idealism. While Herman’s dual biography artfully depicts the personalities of the two men, he gives short shrift to the more complex forces of British imperial decline, Indian nationalism and the emergence of the postwar order (for example, Herman helpfully but also too neatly explains the dogged centrality of India and the British raj in Churchill’s worldview as an act of filial loyalty to his beloved father) But the author also takes careful account of the constellation of modern and antimodern currents of late Victorian thought in situating these vastly influential figures in a fascinating narrative of their times.

      • premium: True
      • source: Library Journal
      • content:

        Starred review from April 1, 2008
        The complex task of drawing comparison and contrast between two of the most chronicled lives of the 20th century is easily and compellingly handled by Herman ("How the Scots Invented the Modern World"). Spanning the globe and dozens of decades, Herman never sinks into the clichés of these two men's biographies but rather deconstructs some of the cherished myths surrounding them while maintaining a warm and lively tone. From India to South Africa to London, they seemed to cross paths in life yet could never reach a true understanding of each other. Churchill, the ardent defender of the British Empire, had trouble accepting modern political realities and fixated upon Gandhi as the ultimate threat to his beloved England's legacy. Gandhi, in turn, achieved global superstar status but could not unite Indian politics and eventually became a hindrance, then an irrelevance, to Indian independence. These two men may have been presented historically as enemies, or at least proxy enemies, but Herman brings out the true issues that divided them yet made them remarkably similar holdovers of the Victorian era. Highly recommended for public and academic libraries. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 1/08.]Elizabeth Morris, Barrington Area Lib., IL

        Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

      • premium: True
      • source: Booklist
      • content:

        April 15, 2008
        Popular historian Herman (How the Scots Invented the World, 2001) dramatizes the end of Britains rule of India through the lives of Mohandas Gandhi and Winston Churchill. The barrister met the politician once, in 1906, and each mans subsequent relation to the issue of independence, up to its realization in 1947, guides Hermans narrative. The tenor of the authors presentation is that both Gandhi and Churchills visions of Indias future were illusory, and bear some blame for the convulsions of 1947 (partition, communal violence, and a Pakistani-Indian war). Rooted in his youthful experiences in India, Churchills stout imperialism became an ever more impractical stance as Gandhis advocacy of independence gained momentum over the decades. Descriptive about the latters revered methods of nonviolence, Herman discerns an implied forcefulness behind them should, for example, a Gandhi fast touch off riots. If uncomplimentary toward Gandhis political acumen, Hermanpresents his criticisms subtly, without impedingthe brisk narrative flow. Showing history eluding Gandhi and Churchill, Herman provocatively presents their efforts to shape it.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)

popularity
68
links
    • self:
        • href: https://api.overdrive.com/v1/collections/v1L1BWwAAAA2I/products/9f9f6211-1374-4d54-b3d4-5e583131507c/metadata
        • type: application/vnd.overdrive.api+json
id
9f9f6211-1374-4d54-b3d4-5e583131507c
starRating
4.3
images
    • cover:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/0111-1/{9F9F6211-1374-4D54-B3D4-5E583131507C}Img100.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • thumbnail:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/0111-1/{9F9F6211-1374-4D54-B3D4-5E583131507C}Img200.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover150Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/0111-1/9F9/F62/11/{9F9F6211-1374-4D54-B3D4-5E583131507C}Img150.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover300Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/0111-1/9F9/F62/11/{9F9F6211-1374-4D54-B3D4-5E583131507C}Img400.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
isPublicPerformanceAllowed
False
languages
      • code: en
      • name: English
subjects
      • value: Biography & Autobiography
      • value: History
      • value: Nonfiction
publishDateText
04/29/2008
otherFormatIdentifiers
      • type: ISBN
      • value: 9780553804638
mediaType
eBook
shortDescription
In this fascinating and meticulously researched book, bestselling historian Arthur Herman sheds new light on two of the most universally recognizable icons of the twentieth century, and reveals how their forty-year rivalry sealed the fate of India and the British Empire.
They were born worlds apart: Winston Churchill to Britain’s most glamorous aristocratic family, Mohandas Gandhi to a pious middle-class household in a provincial town in India. Yet Arthur Herman reveals how their lives and careers became intertwined as the twentieth century unfolded. Both men would go on to lead their nations through harrowing trials and two world wars—and become locked in a fierce contest of wills that would decide the fate of countries, continents, and ultimately an empire.
Gandhi & Churchill reveals how both men were more alike than different, and yet became bitter enemies over the future of India, a land of 250 million people with 147 languages and dialects...
sortTitle
Gandhi and Churchill The Epic Rivalry that Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age
crossRefId
147845
subtitle
The Epic Rivalry that Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age
publisher
Random House Publishing Group
bisacCodes
      • code: BIO006000
      • description: Biography & Autobiography / Historical
      • code: HIS010020
      • description: History / Europe / Western
      • code: HIS017000
      • description: History / Asia / South / General