India: A Portrait

"Written with the flair and intuition one would expect from award-winning author Patrick French, (Younghusband) this objective account of a land of extremes examines India's historical background as the basis for continuing contradictions and plots the changing political, economic, and social landscape amidst competing ideologies and complex relationships. The book is organized into three sections. The first, 'Rashtra' (Nation), is a highly engaging study of Indian identity. Mixing personal experiences with historical overviews, it is clear that in India past becomes present, with ancient history woven into daily life. Despite a constitution founded on modern principles of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity, the formation of the nation has witnessed both triumph and disaster, and begs the question: 'Is it right to ascribe unity and similarity to so many different people?' The second section, 'Lakshmi' (Wealth), opens with an intriguing piece on John Maynard Keynes, whose early obsession and subsequent assessment of the Indian economy spanned two world wars. Hypocrisy is rife in a thriving Indian economy, and French's investigative journalism reveals the downside of new money. The third section, 'Samaj' (Society), provides contemporary sketches highlighting cultural trends and the plight of a nation thrust into the twenty-first century spotlight. Though sometimes dense, French's latest book contains some intriguing tales and a dynamic narrative. (June)" Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

A monumental biography of the subcontinent from the award-winning author of The World Is What It Is: The Authorized Biography of V. S. Naipaul.

Second only to China in the magnitude of its economic miracle and second to none in its potential to shape the new century, India is fast undergoing one of the most momentous transformations the world has ever seen. In this dazzlingly panoramic book, Patrick French chronicles that epic change, telling human stories to explain a larger national narrative.

Melding on-the-ground reports with a deep knowledge of history, French exposes the cultural foundations of Indias political, economic and social complexities. He reveals how a nation identified with some of the most wretched poverty on earth has simultaneously developed an envied culture of entrepreneurship (here are stories like that of C. K. Ranganathan, who trudged the streets of Cuddalore in the 1980s selling sample packets of shampoo and now employs more than one thousand people). And even more remarkably, French shows how, despite the ancient and persistent traditions of caste, as well as a mind-boggling number of ethnicities and languages, India has nevertheless managed to cohere, evolving into the worlds largest democracy, largely fulfilling Jawaharlal Nehrus dream of a secular liberal order.

Frenchs inquiry goes to the heart of all the puzzlements that modern India presents: Is this country actually rich or poor? Why has its Muslim population, the second largest on earth, resisted radicalization to such a considerable extent? Why do so many children of Indians who have succeeded in the West want to return “home,” despite never having lived in India? Will India become a natural ally of the West, a geostrategic counterweight to the illiberal rising powers China and Russia? To find the answers, French seeks out an astonishing range of characters: from Maoist revolutionaries to Mafia dons, from chained quarry laborers to self-made billionaires. And he delves into the personal lives of the political elite, including the Italian-born Sonia Gandhi, one of the most powerful women in the world.

With a familiarity and insight few Westerners could approach, Patrick French provides a vital corrective to the many outdated notions about a uniquely dynamic and consequential nation. His India is a thrilling revelation.

Patrick French was born in England in 1966 and studied literature at Edinburgh University. He is the author of Younghusband; Liberty or Death; Tibet, Tibet; and The World Is What It Is, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Hawthornden Prize. French is the winner of the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, the Royal Society of Literature Heinemann Prize, and the Somerset Maugham Award. He lives in London.