India After Gandhi
 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,Picadorin India |
Publication date | 24 July 2007 |
| Publication place | India |
| Media type | Print (hardcoverandpaperback) |
| Pages | 898 pp (First Edition), 919 pp (Revised and Updated Edition) |
| ISBN | 978-0-330-50554-3 |
India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracyis a non-fiction book by Indian historianRamachandra Guha.First published byHarperCollinsin August 2007.[1][2]
The book covers the history of the India after it gained independence from theBritishin 1947.[1]A revised and expanded edition was published in 2017.[3]
Background[edit]
In November 1997, Peter Straus, then head ofPicador,met Ramachandra Guha and suggested that he write a history of independent India. Straus had read an article by Guha in the Oxford journalPast 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 theNehru Memorial Museum and Library,New Delhi. The private papers of Indian independence activist and politicianC RajagopalachariandP 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[edit]
Guha 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[edit]
India After Gandhiwas translated intoHindiasBharat Gandhi Ke BaadbyIndia Todayjournalist Sushant Jha New Delhi.[5]This book has been translated into Hindi in two volumes asBharat: Gandhi Ke BaadandBharat: Nehru Ke Baadand published by Penguin. TheTamilversion of the book is published in the nameIndhiya varalaaru Gandhikku pin - Part 1 & 2by Kizhakku and translated by R. P. Sarathy. TheBengaliversion of the book is published in the name "গাঁধী-উত্তর ভারতবর্ষ" by Ananda Publishers Private Limited and translated by Ashish Lahiri.
Reception[edit]
India after Gandhiwas chosen Book of the Year byThe Economist,The Wall Street JournalandOutlook Magazine,among others.[6]The book was one of the best non-fiction books of the decade (2010–2019) as perThe Hindu.[7]
The book won the 2011Sahitya Akademi Award for English.[6]
References[edit]
- ^abChaudhuri, Amit(21 April 2007)."Review: India After Gandhi".The Guardian.
- ^Chotiner, Isaac (26 August 2007)."All in the Family".New York Times.Retrieved27 August2018.
- ^Ramachandra Guha and Barkha Dutt - INDIA AFTER GANDHI, Delhi launchonYouTube
- ^abGuha, Ramachandra (18 June 2017)."How Ramachandra Guha came to write 'India After Gandhi', the first popular post-1947 history".Scroll.in.Retrieved23 May2018.
- ^"Bharat Gandhi Ke Baad".Penguin India.Retrieved7 January2017.
- ^ab"Poets Dominate Sahitya Akademi Awards 2011"(PDF)(Press release).Sahitya Akademi.21 December 2011. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 8 May 2012.Retrieved21 December2011.
- ^"Best non-fiction books of the decade".The Hindu.28 December 2018.