The Idea of India is a non-fiction book by Sunil Khilnani, which describes the economic and political history of India in the fifty years since Partition.
Table of contents
Everybody Loves a Good Drought by P. Customers who bought this item also bought. Page 1 of 1 Start over Page 1 of 1. A History of India in 50 Lives. Everybody Loves a Good Drought. Understanding the Founding Fathers: An Enquiry into the Indian Republic's Beginnings.
Customers who bought this item also bought
India in 50 Lives. To get the free app, enter mobile phone number. See all free Kindle reading apps. Start reading The Idea of India on your Kindle in under a minute. Don't have a Kindle?
Penguin India 20 September Language: Customers who viewed this item also viewed. Ideas for the New Century. India and its Contradictions. Share your thoughts with other customers. Write a product review. There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. The author has chosen to include every long-winded preface from every edition of the book, plus a long pointless, introduction. Let the book speak for itself! By the time you reach Chapter 2 you've been drowned in words, and it's hard to figure out what exactly he wants to say.
What was the editor doing? This book is a page essay expanded to book length. I regret paying for this garbage.
On the bright side, it ensures I won't waste any money on this fellow any more. In short, Nehru good, everyone else bad. One person found this helpful. Kindle Edition Verified Purchase.
I love the was Khilnani explains about the political situation in India post This helps us to see the importance if intelligentsia up in management of any country and how things changed as power went from hand to hand. I also recommend his podcasts "Incarnations" on BBC4. It is also available as a book in Amazon. This is one of the most perceptive books I have read on India.
Error (Forbidden)
Frankly, essential reading as background to the current election. India post independence, excellently analyzed by Khilnani. When you click on a Sponsored Product ad, you will be taken to an Amazon detail page where you can learn more about the product and purchase it. To learn more about Amazon Sponsored Products, click here. Spirited, combative and insight-filled. Khilnani has woven a rich analysis of contemporary India and its evolution since indepence.
I am inclined to agree with [him] on the robustness and staying power of the secular idea of India. Fifty years ago the British divided and departed from their most prized imperial possession, handing over the new Indian state to a small nationalist elite led by Jawaharlal Nehru. The new country was then driven by a belief in a political construct, the idea of India, an idea that for decades animated the citizens' efforts to unite their huge, diverse, and poor society and to transform it into a modern state fit to join the irreversible movement of world history.
Sunil Khilnani's exciting book addresses the paradoxes and ironies that have surrounded this project of inventing India--a project that has brought Indians considerable political freedom and carried their enormous democracy to the verge of being Asia's greatest free state but that has also left many of them in poverty and that is now threatened by divisive religious nationalism. Khilnani's superb historical analysis conveys modern India's energy, fluidity, and unpredictability--in its democracy and its voting patterns, in its visions of economic development, in its diverse cities and devotion to village culture, and in its current disputes over its political identity.
Throughout, he provokes and illuminates this fundamental question: Would you like to tell us about a lower price? If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support? Learn more about Amazon Prime. Read more Read less. Prime Book Box for Kids. Add all three to Cart Add all three to List. One of these items ships sooner than the other.
Buy the selected items together This item: Ships from and sold by Amazon. Customers who bought this item also bought. Page 1 of 1 Start over Page 1 of 1. A History of India in Fifty Lives. The History of the World's Largest Democracy. The Home and the World Penguin Classics. Sponsored products related to this item What's this?
Charles River Editors examines the famous Indian empire.
The Idea of India
A step by step practical guide to implementing stoic philosophy and face the modern life challenges with joy and wisdom. The story of America's greatest generation through the eyes of the men and women who would be forever haunted by their experiences Exploring the mad dynamics of the consumption-based, growth-driven world and its powerful role in reshaping our existence as humans.
French and Indian War: A History From Beginning to End. Do you want to learn about the French and Indian War? But don't have the time or patience for a page book? You don't want to miss this! Feeling stressed and overwhelmed with anxiety? Get effective tools in your arsenal to beat procrastination, get more done and claim your life back! Related Video Shorts 0 Upload your video. Share your thoughts with other customers. Write a customer review. Read reviews that mention khilnani indian nehru modern democracy gandhi state politics political country sunil analysis bjp historical similar indira contemporary today provide economic.
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. I like Sunil Khilnani's philosophical and historical approach to the idea of India. His in-depth studies of the concept of "India" are thoughtfully done. Rather than judging one view as better or more complete than other, Khilnani simply lays the concepts on the table. The ideas of both 19th century Indian and European historians, the politicians Gandhi, Nehru, and Jinnah, Bal Thackeray's followers, and others, plus the thoughts of modern Indians educated both at home and abroad, are there to think about and learn from.
Khilnani ends his book with a quote by Rabindranath Tagore: As I read it occurred to me that studying the successes and failures of the nation of India would be a good lesson for the EU, which is also composed of many similar but disparate people striving to work together. Some books are good to read in pairs. This one would be good to read immediately before reading "Imagining India" by Nilekani. The books were written ten years apart and, like Lego blocks,they neatly fit together.
Kim Burdick Stanton, Delaware. This book is a comprehensive analysis of India after its independence in Khilnani provides a persuasive overview of Indian politics, economic policy and identity formation and reconstruction. This work is a solid introduction to some of the issues in contemporary India and how state leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi responded to them. The Khilnani's writing style is repetitive in some parts. In general an insightful book for students of Indian political landscape.
Sunil Khilnani's "The Idea of India" is simply out of date. It was written in and deals almost entirely with the period before the economic reforms of that launched the Indian economy on a higher growth trajectory. The only parts of the book that are still relevant are those dealing with the stability of Indian democracy and continuing impact of the British Raj. The rest of the book has simply been overtaken by subsequent events.
Would order from company again. Came quickly, great price.