A body that merges with the sky itself, foundering mankind's rock and harbour, child of the childless, transcendent lover, mover of earth, worker of miracles-Krishna is all these. And more.

What may not have been realized in the millennia-old history and myths that surround the god-king is his extraordinary grasp over generalship in war, and superior governance in times of peace.

At a time when nations are languishing over the lost ideals of leadership, Prafull Goradia chooses to celebrate a figure hitherto confined to temples and prayer rooms and holds him up to illustrate, one by one, the sage and seemingly hard decisions he took to safeguard mankind in the worst and best of times.

Goradia and fellow-writer of this book, Jaganniwas Iyer, do not stop at delving into India's ages-old tradition of philosophical thought to propose an alternate system of government for modern India, for theirs is a worldview. The figures of Plato and Bismarck, and the stratagems they evoked for their people, share equal space with other global leaders from other times in this unique thought experiment.

In a new initiative, the book risks no platitudes in dwelling on the ills of misgovernment-here, or elsewhere-proposing instead a carefully elaborated solution to them. What we have before us is a singular and time-tested approach to politics.