India: From Midnight to the Millennium and Beyond

‘Well-balanced, informative and highly readable’—Amartya Sen

India: From Midnight to the Millennium and Beyond is an eloquent argument for the importance of India to the future of the industrialized world. Shashi Tharoor shows compellingly that India stands at the intersection of the most significant questions facing the world today. If democracy leads to inefficient political infighting, should it be sacrificed in the interest of economic well-being? Does religious fundamentalism provide a way for countries in the developing world to assert their identity in the face of Western hegemony, or is there a case for pluralism and diversity amid cultural and religious traditions? Does the entry of Western consumer goods threaten a country’s economic self-sufficiency, and is protectionism the only guarantee of independence? The answers to such questions will determine what the nature of our world is in the twenty-first century. And since Indians account for almost one-sixth of the world’s population today, their choices will resonate throughout the globe.

Shashi Tharoor deals with this vast theme in a work of remarkable depth and startling originality, combining elements of political scholarship, personal reflection, memoir, fiction, and polemic, all illuminated in vivid and compelling prose.

‘‘ ‘Informed, insightful, seldom boring, often moving, this is a one-from-the-heart work’—Outlook

‘‘Reveals [Tharoor’s] capacity for clear-eyed observation, penetrating analysis and trenchant criticism . . . suffused with his love for India and his pride in being an Indian’—Frontline

‘‘Readable above all for his story-teller’s style…skilfully and elegantly [deployed] to unfold an extremely persuasive narrative about modern India’—Telegraph

‘‘A work of remarkable depth’—The Hindu

‘‘Hard-hitting, powerfully analytical and supremely articulate’ —Newsday

‘‘Encyclopedic command . . . formidable intellectual prowess . . . Few books in recent years, if any, offer such a comprehensive overview of India . . . Shashi Tharoor is a fluid and powerful writer, one of the best in a generation’ —New York Times Book Review

‘‘Exceptionally well-reasoned and thorough . . . provocative and engaging . . . The book’s greatest strength is that on all the most important political and economic questions facing India today, Tharoor has it right’—The Washington Post Book World

‘‘Tharoor is a thoughtful and well-informed observer . . . He writes elegantly and often colorfully . . . When he gets down to India as a concrete personal experience, everything seems new and fresh’ —New York Times

‘‘A literate and affecting panorama of the world’s largest democracy’—Publishers Weekly

‘‘Vividly descriptive . . . a mosaic that reflects India’s endless variations on the theme of life’—Booklist ‘Erudite, witty, provocative, Tharoor has written an eminently readable book, making it one of the most insightful commentaries in a long time’ —India West

‘‘Superbly written, this work will be useful to anyone interested in modern India’—Library Journal

‘‘Brilliant’—The Philadelphia Inquirer

‘‘I’m enthralled by the writing of Shashi Tharoor, have enjoyed immensely his wit and narrative imagination, his remarkable erudition and evident insight . . . I find him among the best, the most instructive, and the most entertaining of authors writing today’—Joseph Heller, author of Catch-22