India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy Paperback – August 12, 2008

Fine book of the history of postcolonial India

These are the kind of history books I most like to read: broad overviews of vast stretches of history, written in an accessible yet scholarly and well-researched manner. Guha points out in the intro that historians have traditionally focused more on the colonial period than on recent Indian history, as if that period was more interesting. He makes a good case for recent Indian history's importance and drama, telling a tale of religious upheaval, political turmoil, a few insurgencies, idealistic heroes, cynical scoundrels, social change, some horrible riots, economic growth, wars with Pakistan and China, and a few interesting figures with multiple sides to their personalities (namely, Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay).Although it's a huge, long book, Guha rarely conveys the impression that he's dwelling for too long on any particular topic. I did think he gives the Nehru era a little more coverage considering its duration, but considering that this is when the foundation of modern India was laid, it's justifiable. He also devotes two whole chapters to the Jayaprakash Narayan movement and the ensuing Emergency, but since this was a dramatic time when India's future as a democracy was imperiled, it's also understandable. He does a weird thing for the last volume and focuses on the last two decades thematically rather than chronologically; I'm not sure why. This has its ups and downs; although we can follow certain themes more clearly when they're not cluttered with other issues, it also sacrifices that 'timeline' feel that's so important to history books, and we sadly lose the political narrative. He never discusses the prime ministers during this period except in other contexts, for instance. I would've liked a little examination of A.B. Vajpayee. Finally, I appreciate the chapter about pop culture in the end. Pop culture is as important to defining a nation's character as anything else and has a great deal of impact on ordinary people, but historians, fixated on politics and society, usually overlook it.My complaints are minor. Guha is Indian, so unsurprisingly he is somewhat biased at times. His main thesis, which opens and ends the book, is that India doesn't get enough credit from foreigners for its triumphs. True, he makes a good argument, but you could also argue that it doesn't get enough criticism from locals considering its many, many problems. (When your main defence is essentially, "Hey, at least we haven't fallen apart"... you've got issues.) His coverage of the Indo-Pakistani conflict is (subtly) biased towards India. Pakistan is always shown in a negative light. Also, he is very nostalgic, and always full of praise for Nehru and his cohorts, against whom modern politicians are nothing but a bunch of scumbags.These complaints aside, this is still a fascinating, informative read, which covers pretty much all the bases and strikes the right scholarly-but-not-boring tone. I recommend it to anyone with any kind of interest in India.

This book is a good read. Author has done justice to India's fabric by not taking any sides - Hindu/ Muslim, Centre/ State, Hindi/ Tamil, Congress/ BJP, India/ Pakistan. His version of India's recent history reads like he could overcome his prejudice (or maybe he does not have many). He is written it very sensibly as if he were trying not to offend everyone.History is a tricky subject. Plenty of authors out there who write it colored. Ram has side-stepped that temptation. He uses detail and yet does not. It's a long book but a very easy read at the same time.I would especially recommend this book for Indians because we are taught something else in our classrooms. We need a balanced view more than anyone else because our State is trying to teach us a very badly coloured version of history and our Politico/ bureaucrats keep on tweaking our history every year. My history book (too socialist, bit honest) was nothing like my parents' (mostly British view of India's history) or my daughter's (too soft and yet Nationalist).It does not mean Ram's book is a bad read for non-Indians. Just that there are no snake charmers/ sadhus/ magic in this book. This book is not for virtual tourists or any kind of fanatics. Also not for businessmen looking for a reason to justify investment into or out of India. If someone were looking for one source of Indian history 1945 onwards, this is a great source. Lot's of great historians out there but hardly anyone has taken the trouble to put it in one volume. I think its a very good read for young Indians plus anyone else in the world who knows a little about India and wants to know more.Taking one star away just because Ram is too balanced. He refrains from plain-speak. I guess it's mostly because he is an Indian living in India and he has to deal with the consequences of what he writes. Maybe he did not want to anger too many people. Living amongst emotional people in a weak state does not help I guess.