This book is by far the best book I have read in life. Why? Here is one book that gives me a complete picture of the history of the world till 1933 with some notes taking it to 1938. While Nehru wrote it all for his 11-year-old daughter Indira Gandhi, I am not sure how far a modern 11-year-old can assimilate the complexities of world politics. Some people may say there are historical inaccuracies in the text or may challenge Nehru's understanding of history. However, only a few books can give you such coverage of world history. That's why it's unique. Of course, Nehru was not a historian; he was merely writing letters to his daughter over nine years from various jails where he got detained as part of the Indian freedom movement. A 1200-page book without any reference material is impossible to imagine today. It also says volumes about his scholarship that is not natural to his training as a barrister. The book covers so much across all of history that it is not worth writing a review. It has prehistoric events, middle-age challenges, science and technology, industry, and coverage of the history of every continent (maybe no Antarctica). But what makes it interesting is the history of post-world war-I; one can see the pot boiling for the second world war and the world politics of the period. We can all be wise men with the wisdom of hindsight, yet looking through, one can realize how his understanding got created and the policies he undertook as the first foreign minister and prime minister of India.
I feel every person should read this book to understand world history and how our political leadership interacted with the world.
