Born against a background of privation and civil war, divided along lines of caste, class, language and religion, independent India emerged, somehow, as a united and democratic country. Ramachandra Guha's hugely acclaimed book tells the full story - the pain and the struggle, the humiliations and the glories - of the world's largest and least likely democracy. While India is sometimes the most exasperating country in the world, it is also the most interesting. Ramachandra Guha writes compellingly of the myriad protests and conflicts that have peppered the history of free India. Moving between history and biography, the story of modern India is peopled with extraordinary characters. Guha gives fresh insights on the lives and public careers of those longserving Prime Ministers, Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. But this book also writes with feeling and sensitivity about lesser known (though not necessarily less important) Indians - peasants, tribals, women, workers and musicians. Massively researched and elegantly written, "India After Gandhi" is a remarkable account of India's rebirth, and a work already hailed as a masterpiece of single volume history.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. India is the country that was never expected to ever be a country. In the late 19th century, Sir John Strachey, a senior British official, grandly opined that the territory's diverse states simply could not possess any sort of unity, physical, political, social or religious. Strachey, clearly, was wrong: India today is a unified entity and a rising global power. Even so, it continues to defy explanation. India's existence, says Guha, an internationally known scholar (Environmentalism: A Global History), has also been an anomaly for academic political science, according to whose axioms cultural heterogeneity and poverty do not make a nation, still less a democratic one. Yet India continues to exist. Guha's aim in this startlingly ambitious political, cultural and social survey is to explain why and how. He cheerfully concludes that India's continuing existence results from its unique diversity and its refusal to be pigeonholed into such conventional political models as Anglo-American liberalism, French republicanism, atheistic communism or Islamist theocracy. India is proudly sui generis, and with August 15, 2007, being the 60th anniversary of Indian independence, Guha's magisterial history of India since that day comes not a moment too soon. 32 pages of b&w illus., 8 maps. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Bookmarks Magazine
Historian Ramachandran Guha, the author of Environmentalism: A Global History (1999) and The Unquiet Woods (1989), among others, and a current resident of Bangalore, writes of what he knows. Weighing in at nearly 900 pages, India After Gandhi successfully clarifies the convoluted history and contradictions of the world's second most populous nation. That Guha leaves questions unanswered in a book of this scope, as one critic asserts, might be considered nit-picking. To be sure, the author does choose his questions-giving particular attention to Nehru, India's first prime minister-and he doesn't shy away from offering his (mostly optimistic) opinions on important issues throughout. Still, critics agree that Guha's effort succeeds in putting a face on a country whose political and economic history, despite its size and growing influence in the "flat-world" model, remains virtually unknown by many outside India.
Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
70 of 72 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
India after Gandhi
The author alerts his readers early on that for many Indians "history" ended with independence. Apparently, there have been practically no general histories of India as a nation-state. Thus this book fills a serious gap for those Westerners, especially, who want to understand more about the second largest country (by population) and largest democracy in the world.
The author is an articulate and erudite guide, giving us a traditional chronological story through the administration of Rajiv Gandhi, and then a more or less thematic exploration of India's more recent developments. This works well as the last of Nehru's descendants to rule marks something of a watershed in Indian politics. The new system of highly fragmented regional and caste politics, leading to largely non-ideological coalition governments in Delhi, has persisted and grown since 1989. That has made Indian democracy in some ways stronger but also more cynical and corrupt. The author cites polling in which some 90% of the Indian electorate considers their political leaders corrupt, and he estimates that half or more of Indian politicians are on the take, large or small. Overall, he judges that India is "50% democratic and 80% united." (The corruption undermines the democracy; marginalized minorities resist governmental authority in remote and poorer regions of India.)
Indeed, the challenges of unity and democracy are the central concerns of the Indian story. The author has culled from a trove of eminent pundits predictions throughout India's history of its demise as a democracy or as a unified state. Virtually all underestimated the resilience of India's vast amalgam of linguistic, religious, and ethnic groupings, and ultimately their appreciation of Winston Churchill's aphorism--that democracy is "the worst form of government, except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."
Near the end of the volume, the author quotes an anonymous essayist who wrote about India's political future in 1958:
The prestige that the [Congress] party will enjoy as the inheritor of the mantle of Gandhi and Nehru will inhibit the growth of any effective or healthy opposition during the first few years. In later years as popular discontent against the new generation of party bosses increases, they will, for sheer self-preservation, be led to make to make increasing attempts to capture votes by pandering to caste, communal [i.e. sectarian] and regional interests and ultimately even to "rig" elections.
Heavy state involvement with the economy gave the State "glittering prizes to [offer to] the business community as well as the managerial classes, [so that] the monied interests are bound to infiltrate sooner or later into the ruling cadres of the party in power." Finally, the writer predicted that growth of caste, sectarian, and regional identity politics would lead to an "increasing instability of government first in the states, then at the Center." This instability would in turn lead the parties to rely increasingly on the politics of fear.
This assessment came closest to the truth of the many predictions, and may serve as a summary for much of what most ails India's politics today. Yet an outside Western observer must come away nevertheless impressed with an experiment which, the author points out, actually anticipated the pan-European movement in the postwar era. In effect, India is composed of the equivalent of at least a dozen or more nations analogous to the nations of Europe. They were connected loosely by a history of Hindu religion, migration, and invasion by Muslim peoples and then cobbled together administratively under the British raj. Their ability to cohere for sixty years now with an "Indian" identity is, as the author observes, a truly unique development in modern history.
Some suggestions for a second or revised edition - an index of maps and tables, a glossary for Western readers, a time line of key events, an expanded "Cast of Principal Characters" and a few more maps of physical features and political history to help orient the many readers coming to the history of India for the first time in depth. Providing a little more background on Hindu culture, the caste system, and pre-independence Hindu-Muslim relations would also help the general reader considerably. But at 893 pages, one might assume that is where the editor drew the line. However, I would have traded most of the chapter on "people's entertainments" for such background.
An excellent companion book to read is -- In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India by Edward Luce, a British citizen and correspondent married to an Indian. If possible read Guha first and then Luce for a more detailed and vivid look at contemporary India as shaped by the history portrayed in Guha's book.
The author alerts his readers early on that for many Indians "history" ended with independence. Apparently, there have been practically no general histories of India as a nation-state. Thus this book fills a serious gap for those Westerners, especially, who want to understand more about the second largest country (by population) and largest democracy in the world.
The author is an articulate and erudite guide, giving us a traditional chronological story through the administration of Rajiv Gandhi, and then a more or less thematic exploration of India's more recent developments. This works well as the last of Nehru's descendants to rule marks something of a watershed in Indian politics. The new system of highly fragmented regional and caste politics, leading to largely non-ideological coalition governments in Delhi, has persisted and grown since 1989. That has made Indian democracy in some ways stronger but also more cynical and corrupt. The author cites polling in which some 90% of the Indian electorate considers their political leaders corrupt, and he estimates that half or more of Indian politicians are on the take, large or small. Overall, he judges that India is "50% democratic and 80% united." (The corruption undermines the democracy; marginalized minorities resist governmental authority in remote and poorer regions of India.)
Indeed, the challenges of unity and democracy are the central concerns of the Indian story. The author has culled from a trove of eminent pundits predictions throughout India's history of its demise as a democracy or as a unified state. Virtually all underestimated the resilience of India's vast amalgam of linguistic, religious, and ethnic groupings, and ultimately their appreciation of Winston Churchill's aphorism--that democracy is "the worst form of government, except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."
Near the end of the volume, the author quotes an anonymous essayist who wrote about India's political future in 1958:
The prestige that the [Congress] party will enjoy as the inheritor of the mantle of Gandhi and Nehru will inhibit the growth of any effective or healthy opposition during the first few years. In later years as popular discontent against the new generation of party bosses increases, they will, for sheer self-preservation, be led to make to make increasing attempts to capture votes by pandering to caste, communal [i.e. sectarian] and regional interests and ultimately even to "rig" elections.
Heavy state involvement with the economy gave the State "glittering prizes to [offer to] the business community as well as the managerial classes, [so that] the monied interests are bound to infiltrate sooner or later into the ruling cadres of the party in power." Finally, the writer predicted that growth of caste, sectarian, and regional identity politics would lead to an "increasing instability of government first in the states, then at the Center." This instability would in turn lead the parties to rely increasingly on the politics of fear.
This assessment came closest to the truth of the many predictions, and may serve as a summary for much of what most ails India's politics today. Yet an outside Western observer must come away nevertheless impressed with an experiment which, the author points out, actually anticipated the pan-European movement in the postwar era. In effect, India is composed of the equivalent of at least a dozen or more nations analogous to the nations of Europe. They were connected loosely by a history of Hindu religion, migration, and invasion by Muslim peoples and then cobbled together administratively under the British raj. Their ability to cohere for sixty years now with an "Indian" identity is, as the author observes, a truly unique development in modern history.
Some suggestions for a second or revised edition - an index of maps and tables, a glossary for Western readers, a time line of key events, an expanded "Cast of Principal Characters" and a few more maps of physical features and political history to help orient the many readers coming to the history of India for the first time in depth. Providing a little more background on Hindu culture, the caste system, and pre-independence Hindu-Muslim relations would also help the general reader considerably. But at 893 pages, one might assume that is where the editor drew the line. However, I would have traded most of the chapter on "people's entertainments" for such background.
An excellent companion book to read is -- In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India by Edward Luce, a British citizen and correspondent married to an Indian. If possible read Guha first and then Luce for a more detailed and vivid look at contemporary India as shaped by the history portrayed in Guha's book.
33 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is an extremely well organized, readable, informative, and insightful history of India after independence. Guha details the political and socio-economic history of India from August 15, 1947 to today. The author does an outstanding job of bringing such a voluminous amount of material and a somewhat chaotic history with many, many themes into a coherent whole. To date this is the best writing I've seen on post-independence India.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By Anand Fan
Format:Hardcover
In my mind, three things stand out about this book: it comes across as intellectually objective, full of interesting facts and very brave.
Firstly, the views on Nehru are refreshing and enlightening, especially because they contrast him with his daughter, who undid many of his contributions. Guha especially conveys how it was Indira Gandhi who probably inculcated the `dynasty' not just in the Congress party, but for others to emulate. You definitely don't leave this book feeling positive about Indira, and in my opinion, rightly so.
His view of the 1965 war with Pakistan: a `stalemate'. It was only post 1971 that India abandoned non-alignment in favor of the Soviets because of Russian pro-activeness, not the other way round. Going back to the mid-50s, India's non-alignment suffered when Nehru & Menon refused to slam the Soviets for their invasion of Hungary. There are far too many little interesting tid-bits to mention, but its great that he's covered a wide range of issues such as the rise of caste-based politics (over ideology) in the late 70s, the various cults of personality across the country, the botched Chinese war, etc. He does give the post independence leadership a positive pat on the back, given the circumstances. I especially like his coverage of the 90s that lead us to where India is today. One thing I've enjoyed about this book is that it is a good primer for understanding India's current affairs - it has improved my understanding of context when I read the morning papers in India. Even by the author's own admission that it takes a generation to view past events correctly, he has done an admirable job.
Kashmir is given 'fair' treatment in that, it is the unfortunate Kashmiri (both Hindu and Muslim) who has been been caught in a wider struggle that included British, American, Soviet and Chinese interests at the time of partition itself. Guha clearly shows that for very different reasons, neither India nor Pakistan have fared well.
Guha admires India's continued democratic lean, especially its ability and resourcefulness in holding elections. India's multi-lingual democracy is favorably contrasted against countries that have viewed linguistic differences as an opportunity to secede. His bravest views are against the horrible politically motivated pogroms against the Sikhs in Delhi and the Muslims in Godhra. It is refreshing to see this point of view coming from within (ie, an Indian) not that India's `free press' has been afraid of voicing its opinion, just not as clearly as Guha does.
Personally, I wish he'd spent a little more time talking about the psychological mind-shift from the early 70s to this generation of up-beat world beaters. Instead of hoping others write more deeply about some of the subjects he briefly touched (as he mentioned during his book launch), perhaps he should himself have another go at a follow up book. This book however, covers many topics deeply enough for me to highly recommend his work.
Firstly, the views on Nehru are refreshing and enlightening, especially because they contrast him with his daughter, who undid many of his contributions. Guha especially conveys how it was Indira Gandhi who probably inculcated the `dynasty' not just in the Congress party, but for others to emulate. You definitely don't leave this book feeling positive about Indira, and in my opinion, rightly so.
His view of the 1965 war with Pakistan: a `stalemate'. It was only post 1971 that India abandoned non-alignment in favor of the Soviets because of Russian pro-activeness, not the other way round. Going back to the mid-50s, India's non-alignment suffered when Nehru & Menon refused to slam the Soviets for their invasion of Hungary. There are far too many little interesting tid-bits to mention, but its great that he's covered a wide range of issues such as the rise of caste-based politics (over ideology) in the late 70s, the various cults of personality across the country, the botched Chinese war, etc. He does give the post independence leadership a positive pat on the back, given the circumstances. I especially like his coverage of the 90s that lead us to where India is today. One thing I've enjoyed about this book is that it is a good primer for understanding India's current affairs - it has improved my understanding of context when I read the morning papers in India. Even by the author's own admission that it takes a generation to view past events correctly, he has done an admirable job.
Kashmir is given 'fair' treatment in that, it is the unfortunate Kashmiri (both Hindu and Muslim) who has been been caught in a wider struggle that included British, American, Soviet and Chinese interests at the time of partition itself. Guha clearly shows that for very different reasons, neither India nor Pakistan have fared well.
Guha admires India's continued democratic lean, especially its ability and resourcefulness in holding elections. India's multi-lingual democracy is favorably contrasted against countries that have viewed linguistic differences as an opportunity to secede. His bravest views are against the horrible politically motivated pogroms against the Sikhs in Delhi and the Muslims in Godhra. It is refreshing to see this point of view coming from within (ie, an Indian) not that India's `free press' has been afraid of voicing its opinion, just not as clearly as Guha does.
Personally, I wish he'd spent a little more time talking about the psychological mind-shift from the early 70s to this generation of up-beat world beaters. Instead of hoping others write more deeply about some of the subjects he briefly touched (as he mentioned during his book launch), perhaps he should himself have another go at a follow up book. This book however, covers many topics deeply enough for me to highly recommend his work.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
worth reading for the curious.
It's a great summary of what happened in india after the indipendence.The authors command and insightful makes it even more interesting.
Published 6 days ago by Saurav Agrawal
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful
It is a beautiful book to read on. So authoritatively written about the recent past. It is very enjoyable and a must read.
Published 9 days ago by Partha Dhara
5.0 out of 5 stars
well done history
Guha has presented recent Indian history with clarity and insight. He introduced me to individuals and events without taking sides. He does love his subject. Excellent writing.
Published 15 days ago by K. Roberts
5.0 out of 5 stars
The definitive book on modern India
This book is excellent and very thoughtfully written. If you want to know about India in the 20th century, start here.
Published 16 days ago by Yana
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simply Brilliant
This is a well researched well written book. Ideally I would have given it 4.5 stars because I feed Guha is a little too patronizing when it comes to talking about Mohandas Gandhi... Read more
Published 22 days ago by dibyo78
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fills a vacuum in India's post-independence historical study...
As Mr. Guha says in the book, for a certain generation of Indians, history seems to have stopped on the 15th August, 1947. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Gopesh
3.0 out of 5 stars
Introduction to the history of modern India
1) As the title says, I started off as a complete novice on modern Indian history and ended up being informed of the general sequence of events. Read more
Published 1 month ago by thought factory
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unbiased and complete information source of post independence Indian...
Guha has articulated all the major events and people in Indian politics since independence. For most part his writing and description of events is unbiased. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Kush Goyal
5.0 out of 5 stars
A period in the History of India
A period in the post-independent History of India
Recently I happened to come across a very extensively researched book about India, covering the years, since 1947 to the... Read more
Recently I happened to come across a very extensively researched book about India, covering the years, since 1947 to the... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Dr.Binode Goswami
5.0 out of 5 stars
India After Gandhi
The book is very well researched and written. A would definitely recommend it. A very good book on India post independence.
Published 3 months ago by Vamshi Krishna Suvarna
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