A History of India Volume 3: From the Nehru Era to the Neoliberal Age

by Michelguglielmo Torri

358 pages, Hardcover

Published February 25, 2025

Reviews

[David Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

How does one describe India? it is everything. It is none of those things. My one and only (thus far) visit to India was a trip to another planet. I was not prepared, although i had been producing a current affairs programme for Radio-Canada International targeting South Asia. Later, after producing a similar programme for Radio Nederland, and after discovering the writing of William Dalrymple, I had the pleasure of being introduced to the writing of Italian professor Michelguglielmo Torri. I've just finished the third volume of Torri's A History of India - From the Nehru Era to the Neoliberal Age (1947-2014). This is an era during which most of the big names on the political scene are familiar. Torri brilliantly takes us through the rise and fall of the Gandhi dynasty - how corruption, nepotism and incompetence led to the inevitable downfall of Congress; as well as the rise of Hindu nationalism, from the Janata Dal to the BJP - notably through the rise of Narendra Modi. Throughout India's independence it has had to play a difficult diplomatic game involving China, Iran, the USA and Pakistan, making compromises that are not necessarily in India's best interests - Torri shines in his ability to decipher this walk on a tightrope. Highly recommended.