India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy is a non-fiction book by Indian historian Ramachandra Guha. First published by HarperCollins in August 2007.[1][2]
 Cover of 10th anniversary edition | |
| Author | Ramachandra Guha |
|---|---|
| Translator | Sushant Jha (Hindi) |
| Language | English |
| Subject | History of India |
| Genre | Non-fiction |
| Publisher | Ecco Press (HarperCollins) in the US, Picador in India |
Publication date | 24 July 2007 |
| Publication place | India |
| Media type | Print (hardcover and paperback) |
| Pages | 898 pp (First Edition), 919 pp (Revised and Updated Edition) |
| ISBN | 978-0-330-50554-3 |
The book covers the history of the India after it gained independence from the British in 1947.[1] A revised and expanded edition was published in 2017.[3]
Background
editIn November 1997, Peter Straus, then head of Picador, met Ramachandra Guha and suggested that he write a history of independent India. Straus had read an article by Guha in the Oxford journal Past and Present. He suggested that since Indian historians typically stopped their narratives with Indian independence in 1947, a scholarly analysis of modern Indian history post-independence would be of interest. Guha signed a contract in March 1998, with a delivery date for the book specified for March 2002.[4]
In writing the book, Guha consulted the private papers of several important Indian personalities, as well as newspaper records, housed at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi. The private papers of Indian independence activist and politician C Rajagopalachari and P N Haksar, Indira Gandhi's principal secretary 1967 and 1973, were especially useful to Guha's research. Guha sent across his final draft to Straus in 2006, and the book was published in 2007.[4]
Expanded edition
editGuha re-organized Part Five chronologically (in the earlier edition this section followed a thematic approach), removed a chapter (A People's Entertainments), added two chapters based entirely on new material (Progress and its Discontents & The Rise of the BJP Systems), and rewrote the epilogue (A 50–50 Democracy) for the 10th anniversary edition.
Contents
edit- Prologue: Unnatural Nation
- Part One: Picking up the Pieces
Freedom and Parricide—The Logic of Division—Apples in the Basket—A Valley Bloody and Beautiful—Refugees and the Republic—Ideas of India
- Part Two: Nehru's India
The Biggest Gamble in History—Home and the World—Redrawing the Map—The Conquest of Nature—The Law and the Prophets—Securing Kashmir—Tribal Trouble
- Part Three: Shaking the Centre
The Southern Challenge—The Experience of Defeat—Peace in Our Time—Minding the Minorities
- Part Four: The Rise of Populism
War and Succession—Leftward Turns—The Elixir of Victory—The Rivals—Autumn of the Matriarch—Life Without the Congress—Democracy in Disarray—This Son also Rises
- Part Five: A History of Events
Rights and Riots—A Multi-polar Polity—Rulers and Riches—Progress and its Discontents—The Rise of the BJP Systems
- Epilogue: A 50–50 Democracy
Publication history
edit- First edition – 2007/2008
- 10th anniversary edition (2016/2017) – revised, expanded and updated (first updated edition)
Translations
editIndia After Gandhi was translated into Hindi as Bharat Gandhi Ke Baad by India Today journalist Sushant Jha New Delhi.[5] This book has been translated into Hindi in two volumes as Bharat: Gandhi Ke Baad and Bharat: Nehru Ke Baad and published by Penguin. The Tamil version of the book is published in the name Indhiya varalaaru Gandhikku pin - Part 1 & 2 by Kizhakku and translated by R. P. Sarathy. The Bengali version of the book is published in the name "গাঁধী-উত্তর ভারতবর্ষ" by Ananda Publishers Private Limited and translated by Ashish Lahiri.
Reception
editIndia after Gandhi was chosen Book of the Year by The Economist, The Wall Street Journal and Outlook Magazine, among others.[6] On Bookmarks Magazine, a magazine that aggregates critic reviews of books, the book received a 
(4.0 out of 5) based on critic reviews with the critical summary stating, "Still, critics agree that Guha’s effort succeeds in putting a face on a country whose political and economic history, despite its size and growing influence in the "flat-world" model, remains virtually unknown by many outside India".[7]
The book was one of the best non-fiction books of the decade (2010–2019) as per The Hindu.[8]
The book won the 2011 Sahitya Akademi Award for English.[6]
References
edit- ^ a b Chaudhuri, Amit (21 April 2007). "Review: India After Gandhi". The Guardian.
- ^ Chotiner, Isaac (26 August 2007). "All in the Family". New York Times. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
- ^ Ramachandra Guha and Barkha Dutt - INDIA AFTER GANDHI, Delhi launch on YouTube
- ^ a b Guha, Ramachandra (18 June 2017). "How Ramachandra Guha came to write 'India After Gandhi', the first popular post-1947 history". Scroll.in. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
- ^ "Bharat Gandhi Ke Baad". Penguin India. Retrieved 7 January 2017.
- ^ a b "Poets Dominate Sahitya Akademi Awards 2011" (PDF) (Press release). Sahitya Akademi. 21 December 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2012. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
- ^ "India After Gandhi By Ramachandra Guha". Bookmarks Magazine. Archived from the original on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
- ^ "Best non-fiction books of the decade". The Hindu. 28 December 2018.