I’ve been re-reading Jawaharlal Nehru’s Glimpses of World History.
I bought a copy in a little bookshop in Connaught Place, Delhi in ’95 and have come back to it recently.
Nehru has always been a bit of a hero for me. His ‘Tryst with Destiny speech‘ (realplayer audio file), made at the moment of Indian Independence, stands among the greatest pieces of 20th-century oratory. It marked the moment when India would ‘awake to life and freedom’ and contained a solemn pledge of responsibility to serve India and her people. His speech is the herald of decolonisation and, as such, is a defining moment in history.
Nehru spent much of the 1930s jailed by the British for supporting Indian independence. In prison Nehru wrote a series of letters to his 13 year old daughter, Indira, explaining the story of human civilisation. The 196 letters written between 1930 and 1933 have been collected and published as his ‘Glimpses of World History’. These form one of the first comprehensive accounts of human history written from a non-Eurocentric perspective.
When I first read them I was captivated. They are incisive, beautifully written, witty, and very personal. Each letter covers a different historical subject making it very easy to dip in and out and read a letter here and there on any given topic.
Nehru covers a staggering range of historical subjects. His first letters tell the story of early civilisations in India, China, Egypt, Greece and elsewhere. He constructs a global picture detailing the rise and fall of empires, religions, nations, ideas and peoples.
He uses a personal, conversational style to tell the story of humankind. He discusses Indian and European history, Chinese development, the rise of Christianity, Islam and other religions. He interprets Europe’s Renaissance, Enlightenment, Industrial Revolution and imperial expansion. Alongside this he describes the history of China, Japan, South America, Africa, Russia and the United States. He is very good on revolution and ideology and writes extensively on capitalism and socialism and the rise of the Soviet Union.
The remarkable thing is Nehru didn’t have reference books or access to libraries. He relied on what volumes he could get and the notes he had taken on the books he had read.
Here’s his preface to the original edition written in 1934.
"I do not know when or where these letters will be published, or whether they will be published at all, for India is a strange land to-day and it is difficult to prophesy. But I am writing these lines while I have the chance to do so, before events forestall me.
An apology and an explanation are needed for this historical series of letters. Those readers who take the trouble to go through them will perhaps find the apology and the explanation. In particular, I would refer the reader to the last letter, and perhaps it would be as well, in this topsy-turvy world, to begin at the end.
The letters have grown. There was little of planning about them, and I never thought that they would grow to these dimensions. Nearly six years ago, when my daughter was ten years old, I wrote a number of letters to her containing a brief and simple account of the early days of the world. These early letters were subsequently published in book form and they had a generous reception. The idea of continuing them hovered in my mind, but a busy life full of political activity prevented it from taking shape. Prison gave me the chance I needed, and I seized it.
Prison-life has its advantages; it brings both leisure and a measure of detachment. But the disadvantages are obvious. There are no libraries or reference books at the command of the prisoner, and, under these conditions, to write on any subject, and especially history, is a foolhardy undertaking. A number of books came to me, but they could not be kept. They came and went. Twelve years ago, however, when, in common with large numbers of my countrymen and countrywomen, I started my pilgrimages to prison, I developed the habit of making notes of the books I read. My note-books grew in number and they came to my rescue when I started writing. Other books of course helped me greatly, among them inevitably, H. G. Wells's Outline of History. But the lack of good reference books was very real, and because of this the narrative had often to be slurred over, or particular periods skipped.
The letters are personal and there are many intimate touches in them which were meant for my daughter alone. I do not know what to do about them, for it is not easy to take them out without considerable effort. I am therefore leaving them untouched.
Physical inactivity leads to introspection and varying moods. I am afraid these changing moods are very apparent in the course of these letters, and the method of treatment is not the objective one of a historian. I do not claim to be a historian. There is an unfortunate mixture of elementary writing for the young and a discussion at times of the ideas of grown-ups. There are numerous repetitions. Indeed, of the faults that these letters contain there is no end. They are superficial sketches joined together by a thin thread. I have borrowed my facts and ideas from odd books, and many errors may have crept in. It was my intention to have these letters revised by a competent historian, but during my brief period out of prison I have not had the time to make any such arrangement.
In the course of these letters I have often expressed my opinions rather aggressively. I hold to those opinions, but even as I was writing the letters my outlook on history changed gradually. To-day if I had to re-write them, I would write differently or with a different emphasis. But I cannot tear up what I have written and start afresh.
January 1, 1934.
JAWAHARLAL NEHRU
They are very much of their time with his final letters discussing contemporary events like the great depression, the rise of the Nazis and the shadow of war. He also remarks on the crisis of capitalism after 1929 and the progress of the Soviet Union.
His viewpoint is rooted in India and her culture which gives a fresh perspective on world events and, in particular, European history.
if you get the chance, read it.
Just read a 
So yeah... 