Gandhi: The Father of Modern India (ISBN 0199104425)

Gandhi The Father of Modern India:
I am a graduate student in education working on my certification for Secondary History (8-12). I used this book for an assignment on the value of trade books in the classroom. This book was used as a supplement to our district's 10th Grade World History Textbook. I had my students read the textbook and then had them read "Gandhi the Father of Modern India". I then interviewed them for their responses. Both students enjoyed the book and said that the book was very interesting and had great pictures. They said that the book did a much better job and gave a better overview of Gandhi's life than the textbook had.It was much more personal and you got to know who he was. The book gave lots of details but it was not overwhelming. They also commented that it would have been helpful to have read this book in history class during the unit on "India's Nationalism". The beautiful watercolor illustrations bring to life the culture. For example, the students get to see a Hindu wedding and how it is different from the traditional Church wedding (pp. 4-5) and then on the next page they get to see Gandhi as a young "brown Englishman" (pp. 6-7). Overall I think it is an excellent book for not only does it introduce the historical events but also the culture of the times in which Gandhi lived. Even though this book is written for a younger audience, I think it would be an excellent book to use in the History classroom.