India after Gandhi: The History of the World’s Largest Democracy by Ramachandra Guha

Ramachandra Guha is perhaps one of India’s best historians currently. This book of his talks about India’s history after it gained independence from the British. This is the perfect book for you to understand the evolution of Modern India. Guha, a former professor and now historian, does an awe-inspiring job of making sense of India’s chaotic and eventful history since independence – the partition, Nehru’s socialist policies, Rajiv Gandhi’s brief but impactful career, the rise of religion and caste-based politics – almost everything you want to know is there in this 900-page book.