In this book, Gandhi recounts his journey from being Mohandas to becoming the Mahatma and also recollects the various incidents that lead him to develop the ideology of Ahimsa.Written in the form of essays, the book is a detailed account of his beliefs and actions and lets people have a deeper understanding about his chosen path. The author was an ardent follower of God and in the book he has covered the topic in great detail, mentioning time and again that he intended to attain God through his service to mankind. It was with this deep-rooted belief in God that he chose ahimsa, the path of nonviolence.

The book is divided into 5 parts covering his childhood, his adolescent experiments at drinking, smoking, stealing and eating meat; his early marriage at the age of 13 years; and his education and career which took him to Africa. It was a lawsuit in Africa that brought him popularity within the Indian Community. It was in Africa that he first experimented with the powerful weapon of Satyagraha, which was to later change the face of the Indian struggle for independence.