Forward/The Transformation Summary and Analysis

Michael N. Nagler of the University of California, Berkley provides the forward for the book, and opens by asking the reader to consider whether Gandhi might be the most significant historical figure of the 20th century. He cites all of the fields in which Gandhi inspired revolution, including economics, politics, philosophy and the science and art of living healthfully, and then points to his very inauspicious beginnings as an underachieving student with a bad temper and asks how his life was possible.

To direct the reader to the means to learning the answer, Nagler points to Eknath Easwaran as the perfect man to tell Gandhi's life story. He comes from Gandhi's home and ethos, and sees the world from a perspective very like Gandhi's instead of through any Westernized lens due to the influence of his grandmother...