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About The Book: In the following lectures I have endeavoured to discharge the duty incumbent on the spiritual Teacher however humble the grade of holding up the ideal to be aimed at, of reproving the evils of the day, of indicating the path along which the ideal may be approached. The task is one beset with difficulties, but not for that reason may it be avoided; cowards shrink back, appalled by obstacles; heroes overcome them. Though the lectures are addressed to Hindus, many of the matters dealt with, Specially in the first and last lectures, are applicable outside Hinduism, and describe ideals that might be incorporated generally in modern life, to its great improvement. And, in any case, the raising of India must interest all who belong to the great Empire of which India forms a part. May the proposals here made, if wise and good, win the assent and support of India’s children, and so prove a step towards her redemption. About The Author: Annie Besant (1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933) was a British socialist, theosophist, freemason, women's rights and Home Rule activist, educationist, and campaigner for Indian nationalism. Annie Wood was born on 1 October 1847 in London into an upper-middle-class family. She was the daughter of William Burton Persse Wood (1816–1852) and Emily Roche Morris (died 1874). Regarded as a champion of human freedom, she was an ardent supporter of both Irish and Indian self-rule. She was also a prolific author with over three hundred books and pamphlets to her credit. As an educationist, her contributions included being one of the founders of the Banaras Hindu University. For fifteen years, Besant was a public proponent in England of atheism and scientific materialism. Besant's goal was to provide employment, better living conditions, and proper education for the poor. Besant tried as a person, theosophist, and president of the Theosophical Society, to accommodate Krishnamurti's views into her life, without success; she vowed to personally follow him in his new direction although she apparently had trouble understanding both his motives and his new message. The two remained friends until the end of her life. In 1931, she became ill in India. Besant died on 20 September 1933, at age 85, in Adyar, Madras Presidency, British India. Her body was cremated. She was survived by her daughter, Mabel. After her death, colleagues Jiddu Krishnamurti, Aldous Huxley, Guido Ferrando, and Rosalind Rajagopal, built the Happy Valley School in California, now renamed the Besant Hill School of Happy Valley in her honour.