To mark SEMINAR turning fifty, Roli Books presents a selection of articles written by some of the best and brightest thinkers, scholars, professionals and writers in India - published in the journal over half a century, from 1959-2009. The sixty narratives reflect fresh ideas and free thought on issues and concerns that India, as a democracy, had to grapple with in an effort to find solutions to the many problems India had to confront as a young democratic nation-state. The divergent views generated constructive discussion within the pages of the journal. The contributors were and continue to be eminent people in there respective fields. Over five decades, SEMINAR has emerged as a public institution of international repute and has consciously stayed away from partisan posturing. The book salutes the thinking, ideas and alternatives of contemporary India.About the AuthorRudrangshu Mukherjee is a renowned historian and has a D.Phil. in modern history from the University of Oxford. He has taught at the University of Calcutta and held visiting appointments in Princeton University, Manchester University and the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is the author of Awadh in Revolt, 1857-58: A Study of Popular Resistance; Spectre of Violence: The Kanpur Massacres in the Revolt of 1857; Century of Trust: A History of Tata Steel; Mangal Pandey: Accidental Hero or Brave Martyr? and Dateline 1857: Revolt Against the Raj . He is the co-author of India: Then and Now; New Delhi: Making of a Capital and the editor of The Penguin Gandhi Reader and Great Speeches of Modern India. He is the editor of the editorial pages of the Telegraph.