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Tag: Ramachandra Guha

  • India After Gandhi

    Published in 2007, India After Gandhi tells the story of the world's largest democracy from 1947 onwards. Ramachandra Guha begins with the trauma of Partition, the integration of the princely states and the framing of the Constitution, and asks how a country so poor, divided and diverse managed to stay united and democratic when many observers predicted collapse.

    The narrative covers the Nehru years, linguistic reorganisation of states, wars with China and Pakistan, Indira Gandhi's rise, the Emergency, insurgencies in Punjab, Kashmir and the Northeast, the Mandal and Mandir upheavals, and economic liberalisation. Guha weaves in social movements, popular culture and cricket, and gives voice to dissenters and regional figures as well as prime ministers.

    Written for general readers and grounded in archival research, the book combines narrative energy with balanced judgement, and it quickly became the standard single-volume history of modern India. It won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2011 and has been revised in later editions to extend the story. It is long but highly readable.

    Book details

    AuthorRamachandra Guha
    First published2007
    Original languageEnglish
    GenreHistory
    TypeNon-fiction
    Pages (approx.)900
    SettingIndia from 1947 to the early twenty-first century
    AwardsSahitya Akademi Award 2011

    Themes

    • Democracy
    • National unity
    • Partition and integration
    • Political leadership
    • Social movements

    Who should read it

    Anyone who wants one authoritative, engaging book on how independent India came to be what it is.

  • Gandhi Before India

    Gandhi Before India, published in 2013, covers the first forty-five years of Mohandas Gandhi's life, ending with his departure from South Africa in 1914. Guha argues that this period, often treated as a prelude, is where Gandhi's ideas about non-violence, religious harmony and political organising were actually formed.

    Using a wealth of new sources, including papers of Gandhi's associates and contemporary newspapers, Guha reconstructs his childhood in Kathiawar, his student years in London, and his work as a lawyer in Natal and the Transvaal. He gives prominent attention to the friends who shaped him, such as Hermann Kallenbach, Henry Polak and Millie Polak, and to the Indian traders, indentured labourers and Tamil hawkers who joined his campaigns.

    The biography is sympathetic but critical, discussing Gandhi's early attitudes towards Africans, his demands on his wife Kasturba and his sons, and his idiosyncrasies alongside his courage. Detailed yet readable, it was followed by Gandhi: The Years That Changed the World, which takes the story to his death in 1948.

    Book details

    AuthorRamachandra Guha
    First published2013
    Original languageEnglish
    GenreBiography
    TypeNon-fiction
    Pages (approx.)670
    SettingPorbandar, Rajkot, London, Durban and Johannesburg, 1869-1914

    Themes

    • Formation of satyagraha
    • Racial discrimination
    • Friendship across cultures
    • Family sacrifice
    • Diaspora politics

    Who should read it

    Readers who want a deeply researched, balanced account of the young Gandhi and his South African years.