Outside the Archives

You cannot work with a giant and not tell people anything about him, said Dr Zakir Hussain, prompting Y.D. Gundevia to write about Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. During his 36-year career in the Indian Civil Service, Mr Gundevia came into close contact with Pandit Nehru with whom he had a genuinely cordial working relationship. In this book of memoirs with a difference, the author makes Pandit Nehru the central figure, narrating little interesting incidents which illustrate how Nehru worked and what he worked for. The book presents a wealth of revealing information that not only describes Nehru and his policies, but also frankly delineates other world figures such as Lord Mountbatten, Stalin, and Krishna Menon. The truth about Indias efforts to settle the Kashmir question with Pakistan (even to the point of a proposed transfer of territory) is told in full for the first time. Also important is the inimitably forthright and humorous style in which the author describes these world figures and events, and reveals facts not yet out of the archives