Jairam Ramesh pens biography of diplomat-politician V K Krishna Menon
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New Delhi: Former union minister and writer Jairam Ramesh is penning the biography of celebrated Indian nationalist, diplomat, and politician V K Krishna Menon, publisher Penguin Random House has announced.
Titled "Chequered Brilliance: The Many Lives of V K Krishna Menon", the book will hit stands in the first quarter of 2020.
It will chronicle Menon's early life, moving through his agitational career in the UK for a quarter of a century, and his political and diplomatic innings from 1947 to 1974, culminating in his resignation as the country's defence minister in November 1962.
"This new full-length biography of V K Krishna Menon, a compelling political personality in the emergence of modern India, will give me the chance to tell his story in all its complexity and depth through primary sources.
"It will bring out Krishna Menon in all his various roles and incarnations," Ramesh said.
The book draws extensively, for the first time, on material that has become available in archives in India and other countries including the US, the UK, Russia and China.
It also uses Padma Vibhushan awardee Menon's personal correspondence available only with his family.
"This biography is a portrait of an era that still has a very significant impact on contemporary India.
"An early socialist and a very important influence on Nehru, the story of V K Krishna Menon is going to be an essential commentary on India's freedom struggle and Indian history when Nehru was at the helm of public affairs," said Ranjana Sengupta, Deputy Publisher, Penguin Random House India.
Menon was also one of the founding editors of Penguin.
