Indira: The Life of Indira Nehru Gandhi by Katherine Frank UK, Canada, and Australia: HarperCollins, Hdb ISBN 0002556464; USA: Houghton Mifflin, Hdb ISBN 039573097X Frank's well-wrought biography of India's only woman prime minister portrays Indira Ghandi as a strong-willed, ruthless, and tragic figure. The only child of Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, Indira set out to uphold his inclusive vision for her homeland. Frank shows how instead Indira became a reviled despot, and left India a damaged country. Read the review by Shalendra Sharma