Name: India After Gandhi
ISBN: 9780060958589

Ramachandra Guha

Amagisterial account of the pains, the struggles, the humiliations, and the glories of the world's largest and least likely democracy, Ramachandra Guha's India After Gandhi is a breathtaking chronicle of the brutal conflicts that have rocked a giant nation and the extraordinary factors that have held it together. An intricately researched and elegantly written epic history peopled with larger-than-life characters, it is the work of a major scholar at the peak of his abilities.

The History of the World's Largest Democracy

India After Gandhi

Ram Kumar Ramaswamy 

Kavana Anklekar 

Finally finished this mammoth of a book; my longest non fiction read till date. It’s a sweeping yet detailed retelling of seven decades of Indian history. Extremely engaging and interesting, but equally exhausting, with every page dealing with one conflict or the other, it leaves you feeling rather dismal and disillusioned. Of course it’s not an objective retelling and there’s also a good amount of hero worship going on, (if you take a shot every time Nehru is mentioned in this book, you’ll die of alcohol overdose) - but those are pardonable offences because after all, to tell a story is to take a side. 
And this story, often depressing, often exasperating yet supremely fascinating is exceptionally well narrated.

Riah Forbes 

This is easily the most comprehensive book I've ever read about India's history after independence. It's tough to read this cover to cover - I really enjoy picking it up every so often and reading sections. Chapters in the last section (especially the ones on riots, Indian entertainment and the epilogue "Why India Survives") are my favourite. 

Guha begins his acknowledgements with this: 
"In close to five decades as a citizen of India I have had plenty of opportunity to discover that this is sometimes the most exasperating country in the world. However, it was only while working on its modern history that I found that it was at all times the most interesting."

Yash Agarwal

Reading this book has changed my perspective on a lot of topics. I learned how to think from a different ideological perspective. Despite being young (therefore rebellious by nature), I have been a centrist with an inclination towards the right for a long time now. However, this book has given me good clarity about the left and their contributions/misadventures in the young republican.

The book can be divided into three parts - the Nehru era, the Indira era, and the rest. Most of the other reviews here have already mentioned the bias of the author towards the initial leadership of Congress. In one of the places, Mr. Guha tries to justify it by saying that the material available for the very recent past is very scarce. Also, the biases of the writer influence him when the time in consideration, is also close to him.

I did not like the description of events after the 1990s, but given the lack of enough resources and the slow pace of time concerning history, I think he has done an excellent job.

The author ignored certain vital events in the modern history of India. Some of the following that I recall are -
1. Addition of words "socialist" and "secular" by Indira Gandhi in the 42nd amendment.
2. Influence of Bollywood and other film industries on the Indian public.
3. Cricket 🏏 
4. No mention of Kesavanand Bharti and Minerva mills cases.
5. Harshad Mehta's and Satyam Computers scandals (and many more) are also ignored.

It is the book that you should read, no matter what ideology, you are inclined towards. It assumes a certain level of political awareness. If I recall correctly, it does not explain left and right ideologies despite making heavy use of these two terms throughout the book. If you are not politically aware but want to learn about contemporary politics and its origins in India, it is a good read. If you are a Nehruvian, this book is a treat for you.

At last, I was expecting a severe criticism of Narendra Modi in this book, but the author is surprisingly polite in his words for the most part.

Tejas Bhatt

Rating this late, because I wanted to cross-check some of the claims of fact in this one. I will leave you only with one detail - this book sums up the reasons leading to 1975 emergency (one of the darkest hours in Indian democracy) in not more than 2 sentences.

India After Gandhi The History of the World's Largest Democracy

Reviews

Highlights