About the Book
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.
About The Authors
Dr. Bipan Chandra is a renowned Indian historian and author.
He has authored Communalism: A Primer, Ideology and Politics in Modern India, Communalism in Modern India, Freedom Struggle, and Indian National Movement: The Long Term Dynamics.
Born in Kangra Valley, Chandra completed his education from Stanford University in California and the University of Delhi. He dedicated several years of his life to teaching and was appointed Sectional President of the Indian History Congress. Chandra is considered to be one of the foremost scholars on Mahatma Gandhi, he is also adept in the economic and political history of modern India.
Mridula Mukherjee is an Indian author and Professor.
She has authored Peasants in India's Non-Violent Revolution and Colonializing Agriculture.
Mukherjee is currently the Professor of Modern Indian History at the Centre for Historical Studies, and is also the Director of Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. Her areas of interest are in peasant movements, agrarian history, and the national movement.
Aditya Mukherjee is an author and Professor at St. Stephen’s college in Delhi.
He also serves as the Director of the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Advanced Study at JNU, and his interests lie in capitalist development and modern business history.