India, Jan. 5 -- How does your biography of M Visvesvaraya differ from existing literature on his life and career, and what unique archival materials and biographical details did your research uncover?

Visvesvaraya's CV - the list of his tangible achievements - is fairly well known. What this book does is to historicise his long career (he lived from 1861 to 1962). What were the social, political, professional contexts and the historical currents that shaped him? How do we understand his intellectual formation and his rise to prominence? It seeks not to deify him but to understand him, providing a clear-eyed view of his personality and his strengths and limitations.

My approach in this book is informed by my background as a historian of...