Our systems are now restored following recent technical disruption, and we’re working hard to catch up on publishing. We apologise for the inconvenience caused. Find out more

Recommended product

Popular links

Popular links


A Concise History of Modern India

A Concise History of Modern India

A Concise History of Modern India

3rd Edition
Barbara D. Metcalf, University of California, Davis
Thomas R. Metcalf, University of California, Berkeley
December 2012
Paperback
9781107672185

    A Concise History of Modern India by Barbara D. Metcalf and Thomas R. Metcalf, has become a classic in the field since it was first published in 2001. As a fresh interpretation of Indian history from the Mughals to the present, it has informed students across the world. In the third edition of the book, a final chapter charts the dramatic developments of the last twenty years, from 1990 through the Congress electoral victory of 2009, to the rise of the Indian high-tech industry in a country still troubled by poverty and political unrest. The narrative focuses on the fundamentally political theme of the imaginative and institutional structures that have successively sustained and transformed India, first under British colonial rule and then, after 1947, as an independent country. Woven into the larger political narrative is an account of India's social and economic development and its rich cultural life.

    • Third edition of classic history of India charts developments across last twenty years since 1990
    • Themes include the emergence of India as a superpower, particularly focusing on the rivalry between India and China
    • Analyzes the economic polarization between the wealthy and those still living in abject poverty

    Reviews & endorsements

    'This is a beautifully written book, intended for the smart and engaged general reader of history, as well as students of South Asia. A classic in the field!' Durba Ghosh, Cornell University

    'A Concise History of Modern India is an indispensable guide to Indian history, culture, religion, and politics from the fourteenth century to India's emergence as a major player in information technology and the global economy in the new millennium. Beautifully crafted, lucidly written, and analytically uncompromising this book is invaluable to scholars interested in the rich and contradictory history of the world's largest democracy.' Rochona Majumdar, University of Chicago

    See more reviews

    Product details

    December 2012
    Paperback
    9781107672185
    362 pages
    226 × 150 × 23 mm
    0.47kg
    52 b/w illus. 4 maps
    Available

    Table of Contents

    • 1. Sultans, Mughals, and pre-colonial Indian society
    • 2. Mughal twilight: the emergence of regional states and the East India Company
    • 3. The East India Company Raj, 1772–1850
    • 4. Revolt, the modern state, and colonized subjects, 1848–85
    • 5. Civil society, colonial constraints, 1885–1919
    • 6. The crisis of the colonial order, 1919–39
    • 7. The 1940s: triumph and tragedy
    • 8. Congress Raj: democracy and development, 1950–89
    • 9. Democratic India at the turn of the Millennium: prosperity, poverty, power.