In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India

New York: Doubleday, 2007. x, 383 pages, [16] pages of plates, illustrations (some colour), map; 24 cm. Near fine. Tight, clean copy. Age toning. Stated First Edition in the United States of America. Fine DJ. "These days, all U.S. eyes are on China and India, sizing them up as the next great political and economic players. While books on China are many, few have tackled India, where contradictions abound. The booming tech centers of its cities stand in stark contrast to the medieval poverty of its villages. Its fervent tradition of democracy is coupled with horrifying corruption. Its modern history as a secular and diverse nation is being challenged by the rise of Hindu nationalism. IN SPITE OF THE GODS is a vivid, illuminating look at the forces shaping India as it tries to balance the stubborn traditions of the past with an unevenly modernizing present. Edward Luce, a British journalist who covered India for many years, weaves his own keen reporting with the opinions and perceptions of Indians from all walks of life. He describes how India's two main parties inflame caste and religious tensions to win elections. He traces the relationship between the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty and the evolution of the world's largest experiment in representative democracy. And he reveals that India's technological revolution, which has been vilified as a threat to American prosperity, plays a tiny role in the overall Indian economy. Deeply informed by scholarship and history, IN SPITE OF THE GODS is the one book that people will read to understand why India has a long way to go at home, and yet is on its way to rivaling both China and America. / EDWARD LUCE is the Washington commentator for the Financial Times. He was the paper's South Asia bureau chief, based in New Delhi, between 2001 and 2006. From 1999-2000, Luce worked in the Clinton administration as the speechwriter to Treasury secretary Larry Summers. Oxford educated and married into an Indian family, he now lives in Washington, D.C." - Publisher.. 1st. Hardcover. Very Good/Fine. 8vo.