The Story Of The Forging Of Contemporary India, The World S Largest Democracy, Is A Rich And Inspiring One. This Volume, A Sequel To The Authors Best-Selling India S Struggle For Independence, Analyses The Challenges India Has Faced And The Successes It Has Achieved Over The Last Five Decades, In The Light Of Its Colonial Legacy And Century-Long Struggle For Freedom. In Doing So, It Shows How Unique The Indian Experience Is In The Third World-Combining Development With Democracy And Civil Liberties. With Great Insight And Clarity The Book Describes How Against Great Odds The Constitution Was Framed By Seeking The Widest Possible Consensus, As Also How The Nehruvian Political And Economic Agenda And Basics Of Foreign Policy Were Evolved And Developed. Essential To The Quest For Consolidation Of The Nation Was The Integration Of The Princely States, The Linguistic Reorganization Of The States, The Integration Of The Tribals Into The Mainstream And The Countering Of Regional Imbalances. Among The Other Contentious Issues Considered Here, With All Their Implications For The Present Situation, Are India S Foreign Policy, Party Politics In The Centre And The States, The Punjab Problem, The Growth Of Communalism, And Anticaste Politics And Untouchability. There Are Detailed Analyses Of The Indian Economy, Including The Reforms Since 1991, The Wide-Ranging Land Reforms And The Green Revolution. These, Along With The Objective Assessments Of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Jayaprakash Narayan, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Rajiv Gandhi, Vishwanath Pratap Singh And Atal Behari Vajpayee Constitute A Remarkable Overview Of A Nation On The Move. Incisive, Pithy And Optimistic, India After Independence Is A Welcome Introduction To Contemporary India And Reaffirms The Strength Of Indian Democracy In The Coming Millennium. 'As An Introduction To The History Of Post-Independence India, It Is Non-Pareil.' -M V Kamath

A thorough and incisive introduction to contemporary India The story of the forging of India, the world's largest democracy, is a rich and inspiring one. This volume, a sequel to the best-selling India's Struggle for Independence, analyses the challenges India has faced and the successes it has achieved, in the light of its colonial legacy and century-long struggle for freedom. The book describes how the Constitution was framed, as also how the Nehruvian political and economic agenda and basics of foreign policy were evolved and developed. It dwells on the consolidation of the nation, examining contentious issues like party politics in the Centre and the states, the Punjab problem, and anti-caste politics and untouchability. This revised edition offers a scathing analysis of the growth of communalism in India and the use of state power in furthering its cause. It also documents the fall of the National Democratic Alliance in the 2004 General Elections, the United Progressive Alliance's subsequent rise to power and the Indo-US Nuclear Deal that served to unravel the political consensus at the centre. Apart from detailed analyses of Indian economic reforms since 1991 and wide-ranging land reforms and the Green Revolution, this new edition includes an overview of the Indian economy in the new millennium. These, along with objective assessments of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Jayaprakash Narayan, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Rajiv Gandhi, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh, constitute a remarkable overview of a nation on the move.

India today is a vibrant free-market democracy, a nation well on its way to overcoming decades of widespread poverty. The nation’s rise is one of the great international stories of the late twentieth century, and in India Unbound the acclaimed columnist Gurcharan Das offers a sweeping economic history of India from independence to the new millennium. Das shows how India’s policies after 1947 condemned the nation to a hobbled economy until 1991, when the government instituted sweeping reforms that paved the way for extraordinary growth. Das traces these developments and tells the stories of the major players from Nehru through today. As the former CEO of Proctor & Gamble India, Das offers a unique insider’s perspective and he deftly interweaves memoir with history, creating a book that is at once vigorously analytical and vividly written. Impassioned, erudite, and eminently readable, India Unbound is a must for anyone interested in the global economy and its future.

Ramachandra Guha’s India after Gandhi is a magisterial account of the pains, struggles, humiliations and glories of the world’s largest and least likely democracy. A riveting chronicle of the often brutal conflicts that have rocked a giant nation, and of the extraordinary individuals and institutions who held it together, it established itself as a classic when it was first published in 2007. In the last decade, India has witnessed, among other things, two general elections; the fall of the Congress and the rise of Narendra Modi; a major anti-corruption movement; more violence against women, Dalits, and religious minorities; a wave of prosperity for some but the persistence of poverty for others; comparative peace in Nagaland but greater discontent in Kashmir than ever before. This tenth anniversary edition, updated and expanded, brings the narrative up to the present. Published to coincide with seventy years of the country’s independence, this definitive history of modern India is the work of one of the world’s finest scholars at the height of his powers.

This volume analyses the challenges India has faced and the successes it has achieved, in the light of its colonial legacy and century long sruggle for freedom.