Gandhi was a major figure in the Independence movement in India in the first half of the 20th century. His belief in non-violent civil disobedience led to India gaining independence and inspired civil rights and freedom movements across the world. In the Introduction to this collection of writings and speeches Gandhi says: "It is said that we, too, are on the road to freedom, that it is better to be on the certain though slow course of gradual unfoldment of freedom than to take the troubled and dangerous path of revolution whether peaceful or violent, and that the new Reforms are a half-way house to freedom."