But after Lelyveld explained that he had not called Gandhi bisexual or racist-as reported in the British media-Moily appeared to have second thoughts, which is just as well-three prominent descendants of Gandhi in India have publicly spoken out against the proposed ban. Initially, the federal law minister M Veerappa Moily suggested the government might consider banning the book nationally. Neighboring Maharashtra state is also considering a ban. The controversial chief minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, was the first to ban the book, and the state’s legislature passed a bipartisan resolution approving the ban.

Nobody had read the book-it is not yet available in India-and was released in the United States only last week. But British historian Andrew Roberts seized upon those parts in the book, and wrote a sensational review in The Wall Street Journal, where he called him “a sexual weirdo, a political incompetent, and a fanatical faddist.” Two right-leaning British newspapers ran stories building on those reviews.Īll hell broke loose in India, as politicians across party lines condemned the book.

Kallenbach gave a generous plot of land to Gandhi, where Gandhi created a farm, naming it after Tolstoy. Lelyveld does not suggest they had a sexual relationship but mentions their close relationship, drawing on their correspondence. He also writes about Gandhi’s relationship with Hermann Kallenbach, a German Jewish bodybuilder who became a close friend in South Africa. The Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist Joseph Lelyveld has written a thoughtful book about Gandhi, The Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle With India, which draws on Gandhi’s own voluminous writings, and shows how contemporary India has turned away from his economic, social, and political views. Now it is a book about Gandhi, which examines his views and evaluates his achievements beyond politics, which is being banned in parts of India.

Great soul by joseph lelyveld