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.
The first series took the collection up to 1 September 1946 in 15 volumes; the second series starts with 2 September 1946 when Nehru assumed office in the Interim Government. This is the 84th volume of the second series and it deals with the events of 1 November-31 December 1963. The extensive annotation to the documents makes them especially userfriendly.