This is a magisterial account of the pains, the struggles, the humiliations and the glories of the world’s largest and least likely democracy. Ramachandra Guha’s India after Gandhi is a riveting chronicle of the often brutal conflicts that have rocked a giant nation, and of the extraordinary individuals and institutions who have held it together. It is an epic history, peopled by larger-than-life characters, deeply researched and elegantly written, the work of a major scholar at the height of his powers.

‘Finally, here is a history of democratic India that is every bit as sweeping as the country itself. A magisterial work.’—Financial Times

‘Guha has given democratic India the rich, well-paced history it deserves.’—Washington Post

‘An insightful, spirited and elegantly crafted account of India since 1947.’—Times Literary Supplement

‘India after Gandhi is a magnificently told history of the world’s largest democracy. It is a riveting story with unforgettable characters and towering challenges, immense greatness and extraordinary venality, soaring hopes and profound disappointment.’—India Today

‘It is a formidable undertaking to write un a single volume a history of this vast country . . . Keeping in proportion the separate elements of so huge and sprawling a history calls for the finest judgment . . . Guha rises nobly to the challenges: his history is as comprehensive, balanced and elegantly crafted as any reasonable reader could expect.’—The Spectator