Wandering mystic, eloquent philosopher and a spiritual ambassador to the West, Swami Vivekananda awakened India’s masses to its rich philosophical heritage while also stressing the importance of scientific inquiry. These aspects of his life have been well chronicled through not only his letters, speeches and writings, but also by his brothers who have written over a hundred books between them, by his disciples, whose lives were enriched by their interactions with him and, more than a century after his death, by his followers who had only read or heard of the magnetic personality of this revered teacher.

A combination of painstaking research and facts gleaned from hundreds of sources, Sankar’s composite biography focuses on the personal life of the saint and endeavours to answer the most simple question: What was Swami Vivekananda like as a man?