Book Summary of Windows Into The Past Historians have for decades used government archives as sources for mapping the past. But increasingly memoirs, family histories, and records of voluntary institutions are being explored to provide insights into people and community, allowing new and unique readings of the lives of previous generations. This book asks how diverse forms of 'life history' can provide evidence for a deeper and wider understanding of the remote passages of time and memory. From the Indian and British graduates of Balliol College, who formed 'dynasties' within a hegemonic dominance and contributed to nation building and globalization, to families who left behind many kinds of records to the lives of prominent Indian politicians?the range of this book is breathtaking. Analysing college records, old photographs, and private papers, it chronicles late nineteenth and early twentieth-century facets of the interlocking histories of Britain and South Asia. The volume also explores multiple issues in the history of colonial and independent India, and shows how iconic leaders like Gandhi and Nehru dealt with public and private challenges while creating an Indian nation. Argumentative and thought provoking, Brown's perceptive introduction cleverly knits the selections together, and persuades us that 'life histories' are a highly significant source and genre of history writing. About the Author Judith M. Brown is Beit Professor of Commonwealth History and Professorial Fellow of Balliol College, University of Oxford. An authority on South Asian history, she has worked extensively on nineteenth and twentieth-century South Asian history and politics, South Asian migration, and South Asian diaspora. She is the author of a number of books, including Nehru: A Political Life (OUP 2004).