Book Summary of India After Gandhi: The History Of The World's Largest Democracy
India is a story of hope and despair, darkness and light, chaos and glory. Ramachandra Guha tells the story of modern India, its creation and its progress with a well researched elegance. The story of India has always been a captivating one, but Guha gives it fresh insight by the sheer volume of details he provides, not just on India's longest serving prime ministers, Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, but also about the lesser known and marginalized people of India – the peasants, workers and tribals.
The compelling book focuses on the conflicts as well as the triumphs that India has seen since its inception. The bloodshed of the Partition, the humiliating defeat against the Chinese, the miracle of the Indian elections, the dark days of Emergency, the triumph of the Bangladesh liberation are all chronicled in detail in this book.
General Reception of the Book
The book was an instant critical success once it was published, and it was hailed as 'Book of the Year' by Outlook, The Wall Street Journal and The Economist. It even won the Sahitya Akademi award for English in the year 2011.
The book was an instant critical success once it was published, and it was hailed as 'Book of the Year' by Outlook, The Wall Street Journal and The Economist. It even won the Sahitya Akademi award for English in the year 2011.
About the Author
Ramachandra Guha can best be described as a multi-faceted personality. His interests include cricket, history, environment and politics. He also writes columns for well known Indian newspapers.
Ramachandra Guha can best be described as a multi-faceted personality. His interests include cricket, history, environment and politics. He also writes columns for well known Indian newspapers.
The author is an alumnus of the Doon School, St Stephens College in Delhi and IIM Kolkatta. He has taught at several universities including Stanford, Oslo, Yale and the Indian Institute of Science.
Other Popular Books by Ramachandra Guha
The author is well known for writing other popular books, some of which include The Fissured Land: An Ecological History of India, Wickets in the East, Spin and other Turns, The Picador Book of Cricket, The Last Liberal and other essays
The author is well known for writing other popular books, some of which include The Fissured Land: An Ecological History of India, Wickets in the East, Spin and other Turns, The Picador Book of Cricket, The Last Liberal and other essays
Awards and Recognition
Ramachandra Guha has also been bestowed with many awards through the course of his career, like the Leopold-Hidy Prize by the American Society for Environmental History in 2001, R K Narayan Prize in 2003, Padma Bushan in 2009 and Sahitya Akademi Award in 2011.
Ramachandra Guha has also been bestowed with many awards through the course of his career, like the Leopold-Hidy Prize by the American Society for Environmental History in 2001, R K Narayan Prize in 2003, Padma Bushan in 2009 and Sahitya Akademi Award in 2011.
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20 comments:
Journey through the heart of Indian Independence
Nonetheless the name says 'India After Gandhi' but the narrative starts right from the Sepoy Mutiny days. Ramchandra Guha splendidly tracks down all important events in the history of India. Right from Partition and Riots and various famous and infamous incidents and the contribution of various freedom fighter and leaders pre and post Independence. Author has still missed upon a few significant ones like - Subhash Chandra Bose, Khudiram Bose, Madan Lal Dhingra, Uddham Singh, Bipin Chandra Pal, Bagha Jatin and the likes...
Detailed descritption has been given of the period when the counrty was in the hands of the Monarchs (Nehru-Gandhi) which ends with the death of the Rajiv Gandhi. Which gives the description of the various incidents like Blue-Star Operation and the Emergency rule under Indira. Aurthor also describes all the wars faught with China and Pakisthan and one of them which inturn led to the formation of Bangladesh.
LTTE in Ceylon and the rise of Naxal are a treat as it helps to relate with the current events in Sri Lanka and Gadchiroli (maharashtra). Mr Guha have not even missed the Union Carbide gas tragedy in Bhopal and Godhra carnage that marked the rise of a new leader with a good 'M' to his name(Narendra Modi).
The pace slakens at the end with a detailed description in the field of Indian Cinema, art and culture.
Overall the book is nothing less than an epic which can easily replace any Social Studies book of primary. With a splendid narration just the author has dealt the subject like that of any screenplay.
I would recommend it as no other book in the recent past enriches the reader with so much in just one pack.
An inspiring work
There is a theory called "Butterfly effect" which indicates that a small seemingly insignificant change can cause remarkable effects over a course of time."India after gandhi" surely looked like a proof of that.It surely points at the big and small reasons that have constructed our nation.
The chronicles of India has been so neatly described that it seeds a feel in the readers heart .Especially for younger generation it gives a glimpse of our history and it instills a belief that it is a nation that withstood all the tyranny and against all popular beliefs stayed as a democratic country.
Even-though the book is around 800 pages I never felt bored reading it.This book surely has altered lots of my prejudices about our history and our national leaders.
An inspiring work
There is a theory called "Butterfly effect" which indicates that a small seemingly insignificant change can cause remarkable effects over a course of time."India after gandhi" surely looked like a proof of that.It surely points at the big and small reasons that have constructed our nation.
The chronicles of India has been so neatly described that it seeds a feel in the readers heart .Especially for younger generation it gives a glimpse of our history and it instills a belief that it is a nation that withstood all the tyranny and against all popular beliefs stayed as a democratic country.
Even-though the book is around 800 pages I never felt bored reading it.This book surely has altered lots of my prejudices about our history and our national leaders.
a spellbound book
the book starts with the india preparing itself for partition and then kashmir, the naga rebels and various secessionist movements of india. india stands as an exception to the popular rule that a country is formed by homogeneous culture and a common language. so far it has witnessed threats and obstructions for its democracy yet it prevails. the author has done an exceptional work on the account of various unsung heroes and the contribution of colonial institutions such as ICS and indian army which have contributed to the unity and integrity of india. the change of indian politics from gandhian philosophy to corporatocracy is very well established. above all the excerpts and the doubts of western writers and journalist who continuously emphasized on the balkanization of india are very well pictured. sikh riots and babri masjid, the true events whic h concluded the secular nature of all indian politics. the rise of jan sangh and its threat to democracy. the legendary work of jawahar lal nehru by far the greatest prime minister of india and a true leader. the demise of idealism and rise of opportunism. some of the events make your heart pound others make it ache. there was a time while reading this book that i acknowledged how minimal is our knowledge about our own nation. this book definitely serves as a bridge to fill this gap.
A great work on modern Indian History
We Gen Y live in a modern India which has been transformed immeasurably from our parents time, but are ignorant of the events and personalities that changed our destiny as a nation. Our independence struggle is well known and is taught in detail is most classes albeit with some biases as to magnify contributions of some actors and diminish others. But it is fairly perceptible that we know a lot about our freedom struggle and story of our independence from British. But as a fairly read student, any questions related to partition of India, impulses that drove Nehru to a socialist doctrine in 50s and 60s, back stories of 4 wars India fought, the air of idealism and hope that permeated India only to pave way for disillusionment and rise of trade unionism & workers movements in a very corrupt 70s and reason for the failure of democracy in the emergency period in India etc were only vaguely appreciated or understood. There were multitude of separatist movements, ideology changes of governments, but still India survived as a democracy. We fail to appreciate the magnitude of this fact in a relatively calm 90s and 2000s. I wanted a definitive book which could help me identify the modern Indian and his identity in greater detail.
This lack of knowledge in our immediate history forced me to search for good books to read and my choice of this book was the most apt one. This book straddles a veritable mix of very accessible history but nonetheless is a well referenced book for the serious reader. A simple story like narrative fail to do justice to the multifaceted course of Indian state post independence. Chapter organization is fairly chronological, but anachronistic musings are interspersed between which help make the statement clear in a larger context. Press photos capture the historic moments perfectly. Guha's liberalist retelling of our shared history is a must read for any educated Indian curious enough to know story of their and their parents generation.
Outstanding ... indeed INDIA's history starts after 1947 !
Awesome ! makes me realize really how much I know about our own history ? Should be made mandatory for students !! The author is right on all accounts that we know a lot about INDIA's history before 1947 and a lot less after it. After reading this book I can only behold with wonder that in-spite of all the troubles India remains a democracy !!
The most comprehensive study on India post-independence
It is a must read book for anyone who is interested in Indian History post 1947.
The book has reasons for India's current Cultural, political and economic status.
The gives detailed accounts of various major and a lot unknown events that affected the course of history.
Author gets the credit for writing the book in a manner that makes it a very easy read.
Wonderful, Exhaustive Insightful coverage
Author says in Preface, that for us history gets over on the day of independence and accounts post that is found scattered in books of civics mostly. I can't agree more with the author.
Mr Guha has justified the book by presenting the "history" of India after Independence Lucidly, Exhaustively, Insights (with reams of references) and in as Unbaised form as possible.
A book which you first hold, may get intimated by the thickness of it, but as you read you would just long for more. Hoping few more volumes would have been added.
An Epic work, to be treasured for generations to come.
Thumbs Up!
Flipkart's amazing...ordered yesterday afternoon and I've recevied it today...less than 24 hrs of TAT.
I was always trying to get more insight on the history of key events that unfolded post independence in our country. This book is my door to gain knowledge of those events from the author's perspective. Obviously, I don't expect author to be 100% accurate, but atleast a perspective about what went through after Gandhi's demise and how India proceed with the democracy we all boast and crib about :)...
5/5 for Flipkart and I'll hold me review on the book for now..Will write a review once I am done reading it...
Cheers!!
A very well written and much needed book.
What I love about this book is it's unbiased approach. Ramachandran Guha is a person with an eye for details. Even though he has made some conclusion from the events that happened, they are open to reader's interpretation. Special stress and lot of material is given to happenings in east and Kashmir region. Which are also something i always wanted to read as they are mostly not reported in popular media(albeit lot of censorship) People would love reading the sections detailing the first few years after independence, emergency period.
Awesome
Never knew history could be so intresting and captivating..A must read for all.The language is easy and keeps the readers hooked. The flow of the book is lucid and takes the readers through a breathtaking journey of the history. If one wants to know all about post independence India, then this is the book for it.
An enriching and enlightening book.
India: From Gandhi to Gandhi
This is, no doubt, a major work on post-independence Indian history. But the book falls well short of what its title suggests it to be. The chapters portraying India after the killing of India Gandhi are sketchy, to say the least. The USP of this book is its detailed description of the Nehru-Indira Gandhi era. Post Indira Gandhi, the book loses the steam.
One of the more serious critic of this book is, the author seems to have some very biased opinions. The way Guha belittled the agony of West Bengal post partition is unacceptable. It seems that he has committed himself a tad too early to the popular understanding of the partition and didn't think it to be worthwhile to look deeper into the issue.
I'd recommend that you buy this book and go though it, for sure, but do not take every word at face value. This is a very good entry point to the subject, not the final words.
awesome, lil pro congress
The language is gripping, you will surely not feel like reading an old school history book. Few starting pages dedicated to constituent assembly debates are good to read especially for law students. Good and bad sides of Pt. nehru is very well depicted. Guha makes u form ur own opinion about him and you almost start loving or hating him by your own thinking. But some of the great leaders have been given very less importance like Rajendra Prasad, Lal Bahadur Shastri (especially controversy of his death). Again RSS and Right wing extremist have been shown like mujaheedins who are only involved in terrorist activities. On the other hand, Guha refrains from calling left wing extremists who openly propagate the concept of bloody revolution as terrorists. Much time have been given to Indira Gandhi but her bad side have been thrown upon the shoulders of Sanjay Gandhi (as congress politicians love to throw). No talks about Shastri's efforts in making India self sufficient in foods, no talks about janata government efforts to remove the bad features of Indian administration, very less talks about bofors scandal, shah bano controversy, etc.
So overall I refrain from calling this book as neutral history but surely you will get to know the chronology of events and life and works of some of the great leaders. After reading this book, form ur own opinion, don't just go blindly with Guha. But do read this book for sure.
Will soon get you all the review of India Unbound by Gurcharan Das.
Hats off Mr. Guha
If one wants to know in detail, what all happened in India after independence and why, this is THE book to read.
You won't feel bored for a second. I am so happy to have read this book and I am proud that the author is an alumnus of my institute, IIM Calcutta.
Must read for every Indian
every indian should read this book. All through our school days we are busy reading about pre-independence in our history books. Read this book to know what happened post-independence. You get to read about pakistan war, china war, Emergency time,....all in all it deserves 5 on 5.
Excellent !!
Never knew history was soo interesting .Very well researched and well written too .Only if i had such interesting books when I was in school .. learning couldve been much more interesting .Very highly recommended for anyone who has even a passing interest in the history of India .
The Indian People feels that they become Orphan after the Death of Gandhi.He was Popularly known as the "Rashtrapita" means Father of Nation.
It's really great book to read especially considering the fact for most of us who went to school Indian History ends just when Gandhi dies or India gets independence. It nicely sums up how India, a country with innumerable problems facing it currently, is truly a miracle that survived despite all that transpired after independence.
It's really great book to read especially considering the fact for most of us who went to school Indian History ends just when Gandhi dies or India gets independence. It nicely sums up how India, a country with innumerable problems facing it currently, is truly a miracle that survived despite all that transpired after independence.
It's really great book to read especially considering the fact for most of us who went to school Indian History ends just when Gandhi dies or India gets independence. It nicely sums up how India, a country with innumerable problems facing it currently, is truly a miracle that survived despite all that transpired after independence.
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