India : a portrait / Patrick French

Includes bibliographical references (p. [359]-377) and index.

Pt. 1. Rashtra: nation. Accelerated history -- There will be blood -- The centrifuge -- Family politics -- pt. 2. Lakshmi: wealth. -- The visions of John Maynard Keynes -- A dismal prospect -- Falcon 900 -- A quarry near Mysore -- pt. 3. Samaj: society. The outcastes' revenge -- 4ever -- Solace of religion -- Only in India.

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 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 India's 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. Even more remarkably, he 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 world's largest democracy, largely fulfilling Jawaharlal Nehru's dream of a secular liberal order.--From publisher description.