A household name throughout India, B. R. Ambedkar is one of the countrys most important figures, second only to Mahatma Gandhi. He played a major role in drafting the constitution for a newly independent India and led the fight against caste-based discrimination.

Ambedkar was born into a Dalit caste (the so-called untouchables), but his academic brilliance saw him study at Columbia University and London School of Economics. As a politician, he fought to overturn centuries of discrimination and promoted liberal constitutionalism in a traditionally illiberal society. He did more than anyone to articulate a cogent and enduring case for the principles of democracy in a country emerging from imperial rule.

This book is also a reminder of how far the practice of politics has strayed from the high standards Ambedkar set of intellectual distinction, policy positions animated by serious scholarship, the infusion of moral values and the upholding of democracy for the many, not just the privileged few.