He was the son of Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, India's first Vice-President [1952-1962] and second President [1962-1967].

He completed his graduation at Presidency College, Madras, and D.Phil. in Indian history at Oxford University.

Academic

He was a Director in the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, and worked closely with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Subsequently, he was a Reader in Indian History at St. Antony's College, Oxford. When the new Jawaharlal Nehru University was founded by then Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, he was appointed as a Professor of History at the Centre for Historical Studies, which he helped in setting up.

Administrative

He was also Chairman of the National Book Trust, New Delhi in the 1970s.

He remained at the forefront of the anti-communal struggle through the 1960s and 1970s and then again after the rise of the BJP to power in the 1990s.

Sarvepalli Gopal was married to Kaveri/Indira Ramaswami in 1949.

In 1999 he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan for his contributions to Indian history.

Books

• History of Humanity: Scientific and Cultural Development, Vol. 7: The Twentieth Century, (Paris: UNESCO, Routledge, 2008) (co-author Tichvinskii, Sergei Leonidovich)
• Jawaharlal Nehru: A Biography, (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2004)
• The Essential Writings of Jawaharlal Nehru, (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2003) (co-author Uma Iyengar)
• Anatomy of Confrontation: The Babri Masjid Ramjanmabhumi Issue, (New Delhi: Viking, 1991)
• Radhakrishnan: A Biography, (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1992)
• Economy, Society and Development:Essays and Reflections in Honour of Malcolm Adesheshiah, (New Delhi: Sage, 1991) (co-authors Kurien, C.T., E.R. Prabhakar)
• Jawaharlal Nehru: An Anthology, (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1983)
• Selected Works of Jawaharlal Nehru, (New Delhi: Orient Longman, 1972—82) (co-authors Chalapatti Rau, M., Sharada Prasad, H.Y., Nanda, B.R.)
• British Policy in India, 1858-1905, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1965)
• Modern India, (London: Historical Association, 1967)
• The Viceroyalty of Lord Irwin, 1926-1931, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1957)
• The Viceroyalty of Lord Ripon, 1880-1884, (London: Oxford University Press, 1957)
• The Permanent Settlement in Bengal and its Result, (London, G.Allen and Unwin, 1949)