Prefacing his introduction to the Mongol empire, which Nehru notes was larger than the British Empire and lasted as long, he wrote that "It would be foolish not to recognize the greatness of Europe. It could be considered as one of the first attempts at historiography from a non- Eurocentric angle, or as an "Oriental interpretation of man's progress." In particular, his letters on Genghis Khan and Mongol conquests ran counter to predominant European conceptions of the period. According to an article by Arun Sharma for the National Herald, "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." 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. The book contains important aspects of the history of humankind from Ancient Greece (letter 6) to the time of writing the book, when Nehru anticipated a new major conflict arising (letter 195). Nehru stated in his preface that The Outline of History by English writer H. Some letters are written on a daily basis and some have gaps in between of weeks and even months. At other times he "provided a profoundly philosophical interpretation of world history". At times the style is that of an intimate conversation with his daughter, who is at Anand Bhavan, in which he also anticipates her reactions and the feelings she might have when reading it. The letters on history are sprinkled with contemporary and personal events, things that happened to himself or his friends, colleagues or family members. The letters were not actually sent to his daughter and he kept them until his release from prison in 1933.
#Glimpses of the past series#
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.Īs it was written in different prisons, he had little recourse to reference books or a library but his personal notes. The letters start off with one he sends to his daughter on her birthday. They were a continuation of the letters he sent to her in 1928, which were published as Letters from a Father to His Daughter. The letters were addressed to his young daughter Indira and were meant to introduce her to world history. It is a collection of 196 letters on world history written between 1930–1933 in various prisons in British India: Naini and Bareilly prisons as well as at Dehradun two letters were written aboard an Italian steamer in the Arabian sea.