Book excerpt: [Nehru] Is A Book For Today, Not Heavy And Cumbersome, But Sharp And Witty, And Relevant Not Just To India, But To Other Countries As Well Biblio This Short, Beautifully Written Biography Examines A Great Figure Of Twentieth-Century Nationalism From The Vantage Point Of The Beginning Of The Twenty-First. Deftly Weaving Personal Facets With Historical Events, It Tells The Fascinating Story Of Jawaharlal Nehru Aristocrat, Socialist, Anti-Imperialist, Foremost Disciple Of Gandhi, With Whom He Didn T Always See Eye To Eye, Die-Hard Secularist And Prime Minister Who Sought To Educate The Indian Masses In Democracy By His Own Personal Example. Shashi Tharoor Also Analyses The Principal Pillars Of Nehru S Legacy To India: Democratic Institution Building, Staunch Pan-Indian Secularism, Socialist Economics At Home And A Foreign Policy Of Non-Alignment, All Of Which Were Integral To A Vision Of Indianness That Is Fundamentally Contested Today. Praise For The Book Exceedingly Well-Informed, Passionately Conceived And Elegantly Written Outlook It Is A Must Read To Understand The Fact That With The Passage Of Nehru S Time The Country S Intellect Has Narrowed Tremendously Telegraph Sparkling, Anecdotal And Not Necessarily Controversial, [Nehru] Is Inventive In Its Own Delightful Way, Low-Keyed, Unpretentious But Highly Readable Free Press Journal Shashi Tharoor Is . . . Full Of Verve And Flashing Insight. [Nehru] Is A Short, Accessible, Intelligent And Lively Book The Washington Post