India after Gandhi
by Ramachandra Guha · first published 2007
75% recommend25% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Broad narrative history of independent India after Gandhi, covering its elections, transfer of power and political environment; suits readers new to Indian history and those wanting context on modern politics.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Born in privation and civil war, divided by caste, class, language and religion, independent India emerged, somehow, as a united and democratic country. This remarkable book tells the full story--the pain and the struggle, the humiliations and the glories--of the world's largest and least likely democracy. Social historian Guha writes of the protests and conflicts that have peppered the history of free India, but also of the factors and processes that have kept the country together (and kept it democratic), defying numerous prophets of doom who believed that it would break up or come under aut
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…correct approach? How has it distorted outcomes in society and how can we recognise and prevent such grotesque policies in the future? This book offers some of those answers. Only if you're Indian - India After Gandhi by Ramachandra Guha. Sadly almost every Indian I've met isn't well informed about anything that happened in India after 1947, the year India became independent. History stops there because that's the…
on “Ask HN: Books you wish you had read earlier?” ↗…let them be. 2. Why the allies won- Richard Overy Probably the best book I read on WW2. So many more factors went into winning the war than actual fight. Probably appealed to my analytical mind. 3. India After Gandhi- Ramachandra Guha As the author says history ends for many Indians with freedom. Very good chronicles. Started appreciating Nehru more. 4. Re-read Gone With The Wind, To Kill a Mockingbird, the Godfather…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2017?” ↗…Told me - This is about lies that usually are represented in US high school history and the author debunks some myths. This is also a USA history primer, but all the tones associated are negative. 6) India After Gandhi - Sneak peak into some Indian History and political environment after Independence, events leading to formation of states etc. 7) Lend Me Your ears: Great Speeches in History - This is a great collection…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2023 and recommend for 2024” ↗…political systems, whether autocracy or democracy or somewhere in between. I didn’t really understand politics before I read this. CGPGrey has a video where he summarises the book. [1] * (Only for Indians) India After Gandhi. You can’t really understand your country if you don’t know it’s history. History stopped in 1947 according to our history books, and most people are blissfully unaware of what came after. They don’t…
on “Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?” ↗India specific : India after Gandhi, India Unbound Computer Science : GEB(still reading), Mahout in Action General : Cryptonomicon, V for Vendetta
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in 2012” ↗India specific : India after Gandhi, India Unbound Computer Science : GEB( still reading), Mahout in Action General : Cryptonomicon
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in 2012” ↗> I hadn't heard of India's general elections and smooth transfer of power, so that helps clarify things for me. This book: read it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India_After_Gandhi
on “India, U.S. Agree to Joint Exploration of Mars” ↗Popular books are probably having a lot of fillers (like a good deal of Anime). My experience with not so popular book is very different. "The democracy in America", "India After Gandhi", "Spin and other turns", "A corner of a foreign field", "The idea of natural inequality and other essays", "Scaling" are a few books that I really wish were longer.
on “Summary of Atomic Habits” ↗…Reservations system has run amok, incidentally, even Dr. Ambedkar had said that reservations need to be there only for the first 10yrs otherwise it'd have drastic effects and they are. I am reading India after Gandhi and I appreciate all that was done by our founding fathers and mothers, I appreciate the fact of reservations, but the madness has to stop. People ahve started to treat reservation as their 'birthright'
on “Ten years on from Norway's quota for women on corporate boards” ↗India After Gandhi is truly a powerful book, and you're right in saying that it is our duty as an Indian to educate ourselves about post-1947 happenings. My only issue with the book, though only slightly, was the fast that…
on “Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?” ↗