#BookReview ; The Man Who Saved India by Hindol Sengupta

Sardar Vallabhai Patel saved India. He illuminated Indian politics with pragmatic and sensible ideas of nation-building at a time when his contemporaries were unable or unwilling to shed the romantic lens. The very shape of India that we recognize today was stitched together by Patel, the Iron Man of India. The Man Who Saved India unravels the personality of one of the greatest men in Indian contemporary history.

The Man Who Saved India is a historical non-fiction book about Sardar Patel written by Hindol Sengupta & published by Penguin Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House. The author has written 8 books & has won several prestigious awards for them. He has been a journalist at the Indian editions of Fortune Magazine, Bloomberg TV, CNBC & CNN. He is editor-at-large for Fortune India.

The story obviously revolves around Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Iron Man of India. The book is divided into 11 chapters, each chapter depicting a different aspect of Sardar’s life. The chapters are preceded by an introduction where the author sets up the tone for the book. Unfortunately in India we don’t get to know about our freedom fighters a lot, except some prominent names like Gandhi, Nehru, Bose, etc & precisely for that same reason this book is indeed a necessary addition to the Indian literature. Do get this book to know about a personality without whom the idea of India is incomplete,

When India got independent it was indeed a different time, with so many different religions & ethnicities it was quite obvious that there will be some conflict added to that was partition which divided the country into two. The second most prominent problem for independent India was the existence of so many princely states, it was Sardar who took the charge of their integration & as we know that he indeed did it using his diplomatic tactics & when necessary some force. I believe this book is a tribute to that great man, someone who just wanted to work for the country but wasn’t interested in gaining any kind of fame. The language used is as simple as it could be, the cover & title are on point too. Though I think there could’ve been some trimming in some parts to reduce the size of the book. A must have well researched book.