An Autobiography

Gandhi presents his life as a series of moral tests involving diet, sexuality, religion, law, and political action. He describes his conclusions as experiments rather than claiming that his conduct was always exemplary.

The narrative begins with his childhood in Gujarat and follows his studies in London, legal work in South Africa, and return to Indian public life. It ends in the 1920s rather than covering his entire life through independence and his death in 1948.

Gandhi wrote it in Gujarati, and Mahadev Desai produced the English translation commonly titled An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth. The work first appeared serially before being issued in book form.

Gandhi connects satyagraha with truth, nonviolence, self-discipline, and a willingness to suffer rather than coerce an opponent. His campaigns in South Africa provide key examples of how the idea developed before its large-scale use in India.