''Glimpses of World History'' is a book published by

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

in 1934. The book is subtitled ''Being further letters to his daughter, written in prison, and containing a rambling account of history for young people''.

Context

It is a collection of 196 letters on

world history World history may refer to: * Human history, the history of human beings * History of Earth, the history of planet Earth * World history (field), a field of historical study that takes a global perspective * ''World History'' (album), a 1998 albu ...

written between 1930–1933 in various prisons in

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

Naini Naini (also known as Naini Industrial Area) is a satellite neighborhood and a twin city of Prayagraj in Prayagraj district, Uttar Pradesh, India. By the 1950s Naini was established as the chief industrial area of the city. History Naini had a ...

and

Bareilly Bareilly () is a city in Bareilly district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is among the largest metropolises in Western Uttar Pradesh and is the centre of the Bareilly division as well as the historical region of Rohilkhand. The city ...

prisons as well as at

Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative As ...

; two letters were written aboard an Italian steamer in the Arabian sea. The letters were addressed to his young daughter

Indira __NOTOC__ Indira may refer to: People * Indira (name) Films and books * ''Indira'', an 1873 novella by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee * Indira (film), ''Indira'' (film), directed by Suhasini Manirathnam * Indira (1989 film), ''Indira'' (1989 film), a ...

and were meant to introduce her to world history. They were a continuation of the letters he sent to her in 1928, which were published as ''

Letters from a Father to His Daughter ''Letters from a Father to His Daughter'' is a collection of letters written by Jawaharlal Nehru to his daughter Indira Nehru, originally published in 1929 by Allahabad Law Journal Press at Nehru's request and consisting of only the 30 letters s ...

''. The letters start off with one he sends to his daughter on her birthday. He says he is sad about not being able to send her any "material" gift from prison, so he would try to give her something he can "afford", a series of letters from his heart. As it was written in different prisons, he had little recourse to reference books or a library but his personal notes. The letters were not actually sent to his daughter and he kept them until his release from prison in 1933.

Content

The letters on history are sprinkled with contemporary and personal events, things that happened to himself or his friends, colleagues or family members. At times the style is that of an intimate conversation with his daughter, who is at

Anand Bhavan The Anand Bhavan is a historic house museum in Prayagraj, India, focusing on the Nehru family. It was bought by Indian political leader Motilal Nehru in the 1930s to serve as the residence of the Nehru family when the original mansion Swaraj Bh ...

, in which he also anticipates her reactions and the feelings she might have when reading it. At other times he "provided a profoundly philosophical interpretation of world history". Some letters are written on a daily basis and some have gaps in between of weeks and even months. Nehru stated in his preface that ''

The Outline of History ''The Outline of History'', subtitled either "The Whole Story of Man" or "Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind", is a work by H. G. Wells chronicling the history of the world from the origin of the Earth to the First World War. It appeared ...

'' by English writer

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

Ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...

(letter 6) to the time of writing the book, when Nehru anticipated a new major conflict arising (letter 195). In later editions, Nehru added notes at the end of some letters on 20th century events, with updates made in November 1938, as well as a postscript. According to an article by Arun Sharma for the ''

National Herald The ''National Herald'' is an Indian newspaper published by The Associated Journals Ltd and owned by Young India Limited a company by Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. It was founded by India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1938 as a t ...

'', "Nehru’s books reveal the thinker, philosopher and a historian in him", with ''Glimpses of World History'' advocating for "a composite world view of history." Sharma writes that Nehru believed "history should be taught and understood as the story of human civilization as it developed in various parts of the world." It could be considered as one of the first attempts at historiography from a non-

Eurocentric Eurocentrism (also Eurocentricity or Western-centrism) is a worldview that is centered on Western civilization or a biased view that favors it over non-Western civilizations. The exact scope of Eurocentrism varies from the entire Western world ...

angle, or as an "Oriental interpretation of man's progress." In particular, his letters on

Genghis Khan ''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan'' , birth_name = Temüjin , successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan , spouse = , issue = , house = Borjigin , ...

and

Mongol conquests The Mongol invasions and conquests took place during the 13th and 14th centuries, creating history's largest contiguous empire: the Mongol Empire ( 1206- 1368), which by 1300 covered large parts of Eurasia. Historians regard the Mongol devastati ...

ran counter to predominant European conceptions of the period. Prefacing his introduction to the

Mongol empire The Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries was the largest contiguous land empire in history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Europe, ...

, which Nehru notes was larger than the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

and lasted as long, he wrote that "It would be foolish not to recognize the greatness of Europe. But it would be equally foolish to forget the greatness of Asia." And he goes on to state: "

Genghis ''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr /> Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan'' , birth_name = Temüjin , successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan , spouse = , issue = , house = Borjigin , ...

is, without doubt, the greatest military genius and leader in history....

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

and

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caes ...

seem petty before him." According to American historian

Jack Weatherford Jack McIver Weatherford is the former DeWitt Wallace Professor of anthropology at Macalester College in Minnesota. He is best known for his 2004 book, ''Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World''. In 2006, he was awarded the Order of the ...

, this was possibly the first re-evaluation of the Mongol empire since the 18th century. Weatherford, Jack (2004). ''

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World ''Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World'' (2004) is a history book written by Jack Weatherford, Dewitt Wallace Professor of Anthropology at Macalester College. It is a narrative of the rise and influence of Genghis Khan and his success ...

''. Three Rivers Press. p. 44. Editions from 1939 onwards included 50 maps designed by British cartoonist

J. F. Horrabin James Francis "Frank" Horrabin (1 November 1884 – 2 March 1962) was an English socialist and sometimes Communist radical writer and cartoonist. For two years he was Labour Member of Parliament for Peterborough. He attempted to construct a s ...

Reception

The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' described it as: " ..one of the most remarkable books ever written .. Nehru makes even H.G. Wells seem singularly insular .. One is awed by the breadth of Nehru's culture."http://www.penguinbooksindia.com/Bookdetail.aspx?bookId=1954 Penguin Books India: Book Detail. A review by ''

International Affairs International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...

'' describes it as "pleasant chatty", including "reflections on philosophy and politics" that make it an "extraordinarily agreeable book". In 1960,

Saul K. Padover Saul Kussiel Padover (April 13, 1905 – February 22, 1981) was a historian and political scientist at the New School for Social Research in New York City who wrote biographies of philosophers and politicians such as Karl Marx and Thomas Jeffers ...

created an abridged version of the book, called ''Nehru on World History'', which was published by

John Day Company The John Day Company was a New York publishing firm that specialized in illustrated fiction and current affairs books and pamphlets from 1926 to 1968. It was founded by Richard J. Walsh in 1926 and named after John Day, the Elizabethan printer. W ...

Sources

* Nehru, Jawaharlal. ''Glimpses of World History.'' Penguin Books India.

References

1934 non-fiction books 20th-century history books Universal history books Books by Jawaharlal Nehru Prison writings Collections of letters

External links