Book Review : India After Gandhi, by R Guha
I generally don't do book review blogs but this book surely deserved one! Its maybe the best (if the only one) book I have ever read on Indian history, and I am not talking about the Rajas and the Britishraj history. I am talking about the history of India after independence, or after (Mahatma) Gandhi as the book specifies.
Its the history of India which might be very important for the people to know and understand, but which is the most neglected in the school textbooks for one. Why is that, just because its current, or we are expected to know it in everyday life anyways?
We do tend to know bits and pieces of this history anyways, but there is so much which we still don't know, and this book fills the gaps. The leaders big and more importantly the small ones who have shaped India's history. The history changing events which have given direction to where India is now..
It details Nehru's vision which has shaped a lot of the positives we have in the country. It talks about the rise and fall of Indira Gandhi and how she heralds a new path for the Indian democracy, where politics stopped being as selfless as it was before. It talks about other big players in the history which have been forgotten, JP and Kamaraj and so on.. It talks about the problems of Kashmir, so much about which we do not know only now! About the Naga problem which has been one of the most neglected problems. Of Punjab and of minorities and so on..
The list is endless, smaller and lesser known facts and trivia about the history of 60 years.. A pleasure to read and a must for anyone interested in Indian history.
Its the history of India which might be very important for the people to know and understand, but which is the most neglected in the school textbooks for one. Why is that, just because its current, or we are expected to know it in everyday life anyways?
We do tend to know bits and pieces of this history anyways, but there is so much which we still don't know, and this book fills the gaps. The leaders big and more importantly the small ones who have shaped India's history. The history changing events which have given direction to where India is now..
It details Nehru's vision which has shaped a lot of the positives we have in the country. It talks about the rise and fall of Indira Gandhi and how she heralds a new path for the Indian democracy, where politics stopped being as selfless as it was before. It talks about other big players in the history which have been forgotten, JP and Kamaraj and so on.. It talks about the problems of Kashmir, so much about which we do not know only now! About the Naga problem which has been one of the most neglected problems. Of Punjab and of minorities and so on..
The list is endless, smaller and lesser known facts and trivia about the history of 60 years.. A pleasure to read and a must for anyone interested in Indian history.
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