THE DIARY OF MANIBEN PATEL:1936-50 BY P.N. CHOPRA (HARDCOVER)

This is the first-ever publication of the hitherto unknown diary of Sardar Patel's daughter. Maniben generally accompanied Patel everywhere and was present with the Sardar at most of his meetings. She was therefore privy to what transpired in these meetings and also to Sardar's views and innermost thoughts on various historic and sensitive issues which he often could not otherwise express even to his closest friends and colleagues. Then, too, having earlier spent many years looking after Gandhi, and possessed of high intelligence, Maniben understood both the context and the significance of the unfolding events and the dramatis personae of the times. The diary runs from 8 June 1936 till Sardar's death on 15 December 1950, and is particularly detailed after Patel's release from jail in 1945. It offers a wealth of often revealing, sometimes explosive details and insights into that defining period in India's history which encompasses the country's independence, partition, integration of the princely states, Gandhi's assassination, and then the initial, crucial years of India's self-governance, in all of which Patel's was an indispensable, pivotal role.