The Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru has established its position as the single most important, authoritative, and reliable source on Nehru's life, work, and thought. It is indispensable to the scholar, fascinating to the layperson, and at times something of a primer in politics, democracy, and world affairs, as Nehru intended his periodic letters to his chief ministers to be. It provides a panorama of home and the world as seen from the centre of power in India by an acutely sensitive observer and skilful player. Given the literary talent, creative urge, and singular position of the author, it is a continuous source of pleasure, sometimes of amusement, and always of enlightenment.