India: From Midnight to the Millennium and Beyond

Shashi Tharoor (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"One of the best in a generation of Indian authors" (New York Times Book Review) shows how the challenges facing the world's largest and most diverse democracy will also affect America and the West in the 21st century--now available in paperback, with a new preface by the author.

About the Author

AUTHORBIO: Shashi Tharoor was born in London and educated in India and the United States. Tharoor is undersecretary general for communications and public information at the United Nations. He lives in New York City.

Product Details

• Paperback: 420 pages
• Publisher: Arcade Publishing (June 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559708034
• ISBN-13: 978-1559708036
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #739,153 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Author lives in an elitist haven, September 23, 2008

By	Shampa Banerjee (San Carlos, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Shashi Tharoor is a good writer, his style is engaging and I have read quite a few of his books. In fact I think almost ten years ago, he was in the Bay Area promoting this book and I attended the event at the Printer's Ink (when it was not just a cafe).

Ofcourse, every human being is entitled to their view but Tharoor idolizes Nehru beyond limits. Nehru and for that matter most of the Indian elitist leaders of that era had little or no contact with India. Many of them like Nehru spent their entire childhood and youth in England and suddenly returned to their homeland with a sense of entitlement. Nehru and clearly Tharoor believes that he was the architect of India, thus allowing him to try out his half baked social theories on his countrymen which ultimately resulted in a mess of huge proportions. India trying to pull herself out of such mess can't be credited to leaders like Nehru but despite them. The credit goes to her people, her regular masses who have through ups and downs managed to maintain her calibre.

Tharoor tries to write a balanced account but instead sounds like a wide eyed fan-boy totally enamored by Nehru. It is not a bad read but certainly a very elitist summary of the 1st 60 years of India.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good book, but Edward Luce's Inspite of the Gods is better, May 7, 2008

By	S. Iyer "Indian Outside India" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Good book, and a great description. However there is little formal research done. Ed Luce's Inspite of the Gods gives a better perspective since Ed has physically interviewed key personalities and provides a more realistic picture. Shashi's book tends to lean more on his personal experiences, thoughts and ideas.

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative and engaging read, even if a tad optimistic!, August 19, 2009

By	M. Thakar - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Shashi Tharoor's writing style is engaging, upbeat, and infectious. His book, a recounting of Indian history from 1947 to the end of the century is thematic rather than a chronological history and drawn from personal experience. While historians may not approve of this book as academic enough, it makes no pretensions of that sort and therefore should be taken as is. Tharoor is clearly a Nehruvian (and also a strong Rajiv Gandhi supporter) and has laid out why Nehru's vision of India ( e pluribus pluribus)is the only one that could survive and thrive. Detractors of Nehru fail to understand that most of them are beneficiaries of the state-dominated and subsidized education system that made "India Shining" a possibility, and that a secular and plural India left room for everyone, not just Hindus. Nehru's elitism was the norm in his time since Gandhi, Patel and every Indian leader of consequence was from the upper classes. In any case Nehru "discovered India" and supplied the stability that a Pakistan, Burma or Ghana did not enjoy with horrific consequences.

But I digress. Tharoor's contribution is two-fold - one, he captures the success story that is India, the slow social mobility of depressed castes, the development of an Indian identity etc. which is necessary since most literature about India has been devoted to its problems, though since 1997 celebratory literature has found a thriving industry. Two, Tharoor's personal experiences echo those of the most dynamic class in India - the urban middle class - consisting of the entrepreneurs, the intelligentsia, and the artists. As such, while this is not subaltern history, it captures the experience of the people who are changing India.

If there is a slight discordant note, it is the obvious pleasure that Mr.Tharoor has in his own achievements, mentioned notably twice,at the end of the introduction and once about his reaction to the Emergency. But one can forgive him a little vanity for providing a quick read about India that is good prose and uplifting without being jingoistic.