Letters for a Nation From Jawaharlal Nehru to His Chief Ministers, 1947–1963

Edited by Madhav Khosla

Allen Lane,

400 pages, Rs. 799

From the time he became India’s first prime minister until a few months before his death, Jawaharlal Nehru wrote fortnightly letters to the heads of the country’s provincial governments. Selected from among nearly four hundred such letters, this collection covers subjects such as citizenship, war and peace, law and order, national planning and development, governance and corruption, and India’s place in the world. Nehru’s letters are a testimony to his statesmanship and his deep engagement with every aspect of India’s democratic journey.