https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=India_After_GandhiIndia After Gandhi - Revision history2026-07-31T16:19:27ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=India_After_Gandhi&diff=462268&oldid=prevLegalwikieditor at 06:51, 13 January 20262026-01-13T06:51:21Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Non-fictional book by Ramachandra Guha}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2018}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2018}}<br />
{{Infobox book<br />
| name = India after Gandhi<br />
| image = India After Gandhi Revised and Updated Edition.jpg<br />
| caption = Cover of 10th anniversary edition<br />
| author = [[Ramachandra Guha]]<br />
| genre = [[Non-fiction]]<br />
| subject = [[History of the Republic of India|History of India]]<br />
| publisher = [[Ecco Press]] ([[HarperCollins]]) in the US, [[Picador (imprint)|Picador]] in India<br />
| media_type = Print ([[hardcover]] and [[paperback]])<br />
| country = India<br />
| language = English<br />
| release_date = 24 July 2007<br />
| pages = 898 pp (First Edition), 919 pp (Revised and Updated Edition)<br />
| isbn = 978-0-330-50554-3<br />
| translator = Sushant Jha (Hindi)<br />
}}<br />
<br />
'''''India After Gandhi: The History of the World's Largest Democracy''''' is a non-fiction book by Indian historian [[Ramchandra Guha|Ramachandra Guha]]. First published by [[HarperCollins]] in August 2007.<ref name=":1">{{cite news|first=Amit|last=Chaudhuri|author-link=Amit Chaudhuri|date=21 April 2007|title=Review: India After Gandhi|work=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/apr/21/featuresreviews.guardianreview3}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=All in the Family | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/books/review/Chotiner-t.html?pagewanted=all | newspaper=[[New York Times]] |date=26 August 2007 | first=Isaac | last=Chotiner | access-date=27 August 2018 }}</ref><br />
<br />
The book covers the history of the India after it gained independence from the [[British Empire|British]] in 1947.<ref name=":1" /> A revised and expanded edition was published in 2017.<ref>{{YouTube|id=HIdAuVT97og|Ramachandra Guha and Barkha Dutt - INDIA AFTER GANDHI, Delhi launch}}</ref><br />
<br />
==Background==<br />
In November 1997, Peter Straus, then head of [[Picador (imprint)|Picador]], met Ramachandra Guha and suggested that he write a history of independent India. Straus had read an article by Guha in the Oxford journal ''Past 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.<ref name="ScrollGuha">{{Cite web |url=https://scroll.in/article/844028/how-ramachandra-guha-came-to-write-india-after-gandhi-the-first-popular-post-1947-history |title=How Ramachandra Guha came to write 'India After Gandhi', the first popular post-1947 history |last=Guha |first=Ramachandra |date=2017-06-18 |website=Scroll.in |access-date=2018-05-23}}</ref><br />
<br />
In writing the book, Guha consulted the private papers of several important Indian personalities, as well as newspaper records, housed at the [[Nehru Memorial Museum and Library]], New Delhi. The private papers of Indian independence activist and politician [[C Rajagopalachari]] and [[PN Haksar|P 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.<ref name="ScrollGuha"/><br />
<br />
=== Expanded edition ===<br />
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.<br />
<br />
== Contents ==<br />
<br />
* '''Prologue:''' Unnatural Nation<br />
* '''Part One''': Picking up the Pieces<br />
<br />
Freedom and Parricide—The Logic of Division—Apples in the Basket—A Valley Bloody and Beautiful—Refugees and the Republic—Ideas of India<br />
<br />
* '''Part Two:''' Nehru's India<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
* '''Part Three:''' Shaking the Centre<br />
<br />
The Southern Challenge—The Experience of Defeat—Peace in Our Time—Minding the Minorities<br />
<br />
* '''Part Four:''' The Rise of Populism<br />
<br />
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<br />
<br />
* '''Part Five:''' A History of Events<br />
<br />
Rights and Riots—A Multi-polar Polity—Rulers and Riches—Progress and its Discontents—The Rise of the BJP Systems<br />
<br />
* '''Epilogue:''' A 50–50 Democracy<br />
<br />
== Publication history ==<br />
<br />
* First edition – 2007/2008<br />
* 10th anniversary edition (2016/2017) – revised, expanded and updated (first updated edition)<br />
<br />
=== Translations ===<br />
''India After Gandhi'' was translated into [[Hindi]] as ''Bharat Gandhi Ke Baad'' by ''[[India Today]]'' journalist Sushant Jha New Delhi.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bharat Gandhi Ke Baad|url=http://penguin.co.in/book/non-fiction/bharat/|access-date=7 January 2017|website=Penguin India}}</ref> This book has been translated into Hindi in two volumes as ''Bharat: Gandhi Ke Baad'' and ''Bharat: Nehru Ke Baad'' and published by Penguin. The [[Tamil language|Tamil]] version of the book is published in the name ''Indhiya varalaaru Gandhikku pin - Part 1 & 2'' by Kizhakku and translated by R. P. Sarathy. The [[Bengali language|Bengali]] version of the book is published in the name "গাঁধী-উত্তর ভারতবর্ষ" by Ananda Publishers Private Limited and translated by Ashish Lahiri.<br />
<br />
== Reception ==<br />
''India after Gandhi'' was chosen Book of the Year by ''[[The Economist]]'', ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' and ''[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook Magazine]]'', among others.<ref name=":0">{{Cite press release|title=Poets Dominate Sahitya Akademi Awards 2011|publisher=[[Sahitya Akademi]]|date=2011-12-21|url=http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/pdf/award-2011.pdf|access-date=2011-12-21|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120508031321/http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/pdf/award-2011.pdf|archive-date=2012-05-08}}</ref><br />
<br />
The book was one of the best non-fiction books of the decade (2010–2019) as per ''[[The Hindu]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Best non-fiction books of the decade|url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/best-non-fiction-books-of-the-decade/article30413098.ece|work=The Hindu|date=28 December 2018}}</ref><br />
<br />
The book won the 2011 [[List of Sahitya Akademi Award winners for English|Sahitya Akademi Award for English]].<ref name=":0" /><br />
<br />
== References ==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
<br />
{{Sahitya Akademi Award for English}}<br />
<br />
{{Authority control}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:History books about India]]<br />
[[Category:Sahitya Akademi Award–winning works]]<br />
[[Category:Indian non-fiction books]]<br />
[[Category:2007 non-fiction books]]<br />
[[Category:HarperCollins books]]<br />
[[Category:21st-century Indian books]]</div>Legalwikieditor