This book is a full history of the automobile in India, and gives a complete study of India's automotive elite, The Majarajas, who purchased many exotic and exclusive cars from British, European, and American car makers mainly before their independence in 1947. Packed with interest and insight, there are 592 photos both period and contemporary, including the 1912 Brooke Swan (bodywork inspired by a swan). This book has been written by a leading expert Indian author who has meticulously studied the subject.

Reprint of the original.

Can one car transform a nation? The Ford Model T did do so a century ago when it replaced the horse, brought about a revolution in agriculture, became a stimulus to urbanization that eventually changed the landscape of America. Though the Maruti 800, the Tata Indica, the Hyundai Santro and the Maruti Alto, became engines of growth for India, these cars neither drove away the cow nor changed the way Indians travelled. Tata’s Nano was expected to change all that and become the ultimate people’s car, capturing the imagination of the middle class across nations and cultures. In spite of its petite dimensions, the Nano was meant to stand tall. Yet it did not. What caused it to fail and fall from grace despite being lauded as the ‘right product at the right time’ and ‘the most significant new car since the Ford Model T was introduced 100 years ago’? But is it really all over or is there still hope for India’s ‘little wonder’? What will the people’s cars of tomorrow be like? A Million Cars for a Billion People delves into the questions, concerns and doubts, as well as the many misconceptions and myths, that have gathered momentum over the years about India’s automotive history and the industry’s mission to create a true ‘people’s car’. The very first cars that came to India; the early beginnings of the industry; the nascent history of the automobile across nations like Germany, France, US, the UK, Italy, Japan and South Korea, is narrated with authority and charm, from the viewpoint of the quest for the ultimate people’s car.

This Lavishly Illustrated Work Is Presented In 6 Chapters - Introduction: Before The Car - Arrival And Adventure - Tours And Ceremonies - Shoots And Shikars - Maharanis And Motorcars - Marques And Markets- Collectors And Connoisseurs- Afterwards: The Cars Now- Map- Table Of Salute States- Select Bibliography- Photo Credits- A Collection Item.

A fascinating celebration of the splendour of Princely India.

This book argues that road-building was naturalised in the twentieth century to the point of common sense, integrating roadbuilding into a system of climate change denial hidden within a broad international development imperative. But if we can ‘read’ South Asian roads as forms of governance and knowledge, we can challenge the region’s established geopolitical narratives, and the idea of a never-ending future. Highways to the End of the World explores the political economy of these ideas by focusing on the history of this phenomenon, and on the road-builders of South Asia themselves. How do these flamboyant and controversial ‘roadmen’ think about their work and the future of the planet? What do roads do, and why? And how did they become central to the region’s nationalist and developmental projects in the first place? Simpson’s fascinating ethnographic account takes us from fume-filled toll booths in the heart of India, via overworked government offices in Pakistan, to pharaonic bridges in the Indian Ocean. Simpson follows the money, explores the politics of evidence, and argues against the utopian hyperbole of present-day ‘road talk’, finding both humanitarian crises and freewheeling international capital in the hedgerows. Roads have never been so interesting, or so controversial.