The Rediscovery Of India [Hardcover] [Jan 01, 2009] Meghnad Desai

Pages: 510From the JacketWhat makes India a nation? What has held its many disparate societies with their diverse, sometimes conflicting narratives together for more than sixty years? What has allowed India to sustain its commitment to the democratic process, given its location in a region that is largely undemocratic? In this magisterial analysis of the last five hundred years of Indian history, Meghnad Desai looks at Indias colonical past, its struggle for independence and its many contemporary conundrums, to discover answers to the questions that have confronted India-watchers for decades.Rejecting much received wisdom, including narratives fashioned by Indias ruling establishment, Meghnad Desai goes back to the beginnings of the East-West encounter at the end of the fifteenth century. He tracks its impact on the cultures and polities of the present day, from the