India: A Portrait

Written by Patrick French

Narrated by Walter Dixon

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 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 (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 world's largest democracy, largely fulfilling Jawaharlal Nehru's dream of a secular liberal order.

French's 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With a familiarity and insight few Westerners could approach, Patrick French provides a vital corrective to the many outdated notions about a uniquely dynamic and consequential nation.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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ascent Audio
• Release date: Sep 6, 2011
• ISBN: 9781596599628

Patrick French

Patrick French is the prize-winning author of Liberty or Death: India's Journey to Independence and Division; Tibet, Tibet: A Personal History of a Lost Land; and Younghusband: The Last Great Imperial Adventurer. He lives in London.

Reviews for India

[naggedman · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Readable, but if only plan to read one such book on India I'd go for Michael Wood's "The Story of India"

[oberon_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

India: A Portrait by Patrick FrenchThis has sat on my shelf for a couple of years for reasons that I can't entirely explain. Having now completed it (in audiobook form from the library) it should not have sat as long as it did. I acquired the book based on French's excellent biography of Younghusband, one of those classic British Imperial explorers who filled in the dark corners of the map and risked life and limb to do so.India: A Portrait is a deep dive into modern India. The book was published in 2011 and traces India from partition forward to the most recent elections. The political diversity of India is staggering. French does an excellent job of tracking down and interviewing Indians from wildly divergent lives and locales. For example, French interviews some of the leaders of India's Maoist party that has been fighting a guerrilla war against the Indian state for decades. Prior to reading this book I had no idea about this insurgency much less about the obscure connection to Maoism and how the Indian insurgents persist in their veneration of Mao's principals even though they have been long discarded by the Chinese.French does an excellent job of connecting modern political thought in India with the experience of the country. Whether it the impact of partition on various refugee groups, the rise of puritan Islam in Pakistan at the expense of traditional Sufism, or the impact of caste post constitution attempts to abolish the caste system, French provides the history, the evolution and the modern expression of these influences. In doing so, he gives the reader a broad but detailed overview of present day India.Most books that I have read about India have dealt more with historical India than modern India. I think it is useful to have a solid understanding of historical India, particularly the Raj as it had an outsized impact on modern India, and you get only glimpses of that history from this book. This is not a criticism per se - had French included that information it would have made for a massive tome that distracted from its primary goal of examining modern India. As written India: A Portrait is the best book about modern day India that I have read. Well worth the read if you have an interest in where India is today and where it is likely to go in the future.Edit | More

[hadriantheblind · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A brief history of modern India, how unique and influential it is, and how it got that way. Astonishing depth of detail and research. It is a multitude and a contradiction.