India remains a mystery to many Americans, even as it is poised to become the world’s third largest economy within a generation, outstripp... read full description
reviews
Oct 01, 2007
Theresa
rated it: 
My limited view of India was of a country of Bollywood movies, curry, Indian customer service call centers, poverty, hundreds of millions of people, slums and more poverty. This pretty readable book gave me a, well, broader view of India. It's a crazy place--incredible diversity with a democracy that seems to work. Some facts just stuck with me: less than 10% of India's 1.1 billion people work in the formal work force and 80% of them work for the government. The bureaucracy is monumentally corru
More...
2 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Sep 24, 2007
Luvh
rated it: 
Well-researched and well-presented. Luce's style is engaging, and he turns a wry joke.
The book comes at a good time as the West has never been more coo-coo for cocoa puffs about India. Most of these warm feelings are about India's relatively recent IT (and overall economic) revolution. To a lesser extent they are also about our resurgent (or maybe just surgent) interest in India's spiritual traditions. Luce disavows both narratives in the preface, and it's the realism of his approach t More...
The book comes at a good time as the West has never been more coo-coo for cocoa puffs about India. Most of these warm feelings are about India's relatively recent IT (and overall economic) revolution. To a lesser extent they are also about our resurgent (or maybe just surgent) interest in India's spiritual traditions. Luce disavows both narratives in the preface, and it's the realism of his approach t More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Feb 01, 2009
Deirdre
rated it:
Suppose you threw a dinner party and your guests represented the entire population of the world. You only have 22 seats at your table, so some gusts must share. Because of its dangerous nature, you decide that the US gets one whole seat to itself. India gets almost four of your remaining chairs and China takes up the next four and a half. By contrast, England must share its seat with five other nations.
Clearly when you take up that many plates, you should be paid some respect. Yet o More...
Clearly when you take up that many plates, you should be paid some respect. Yet o More...
Jul 31, 2011
Vandita
rated it:
Edward Luce, Oxford alumni, who headed the Financial Times bureau in India for 5 years and is married to an Indian (MIL, a history prof and FIL, an IAS officer!) has an economist's statistical, analytical approach, an outsider's objectivity but an insider's nuanced feel of India, which he all uses to write this interesting 'status update' on the 'the strange rise of modern India' as the byline of 'In spite of the Gods' says.
A mix of statistics which set the stage for the uninitiated into the 's More...
A mix of statistics which set the stage for the uninitiated into the 's More...
Jun 28, 2010
Murugan
rated it: 
Here's my review on this bad book on amazon.
"I am sure at the end of this review most of you will stamp me as fanatic who 's not willing to see the shortfalls of India. However, please consider my observation before making your decision. I was disappointed in this book because it has no point! Am not sure he established why india is successful or if it was inspite of the gods. In my opinion, this was a feeble attempt by a journalist who was not qualified to comment on either one More...
"I am sure at the end of this review most of you will stamp me as fanatic who 's not willing to see the shortfalls of India. However, please consider my observation before making your decision. I was disappointed in this book because it has no point! Am not sure he established why india is successful or if it was inspite of the gods. In my opinion, this was a feeble attempt by a journalist who was not qualified to comment on either one More...
Sep 04, 2009
Frank Jude
rated it:
Journalist Edward Luce offers a wonderful reportage and analysis of modern India: it's roots in tradition, it's political structures, its corruption, its contradictions. Too often people fall into either condemnation or fawning romanticism regarding India. This book provides a balanced view. It is clear Luce loves India, and loves it enough to hold it's hypocrisy to the light of critical investigation... not to bring it down, but to envision what a more efficient, egalitarian, less tradition-bou
More...
Jun 11, 2008
Pankaj
rated it:
A poignant perspective by the editor of the financial times of the enigma that is India. How the country functions and how it grows is as big a mystery as how they get a deity of Lord Ganesha to drink milk. Nonetheless, the book offers some very interesting insight into the strengths and apparent weaknesses holding India. In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India is as much of a testament to India's potential as a referendum on its weaknesses.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Oct 12, 2007
Priya
rated it:
Very thought provoking analysis of India. While being critical, the Author's love for the country seems to come right through.
The amount of history he covers is vast and sometimes he touches very fleetingly on subjects leaving you hungry for more. There are times when I felt, he generalised issues by stretching them over the entire country. To be fair, he does assert India's multifacetedness many times.
All in all a good read.
The amount of history he covers is vast and sometimes he touches very fleetingly on subjects leaving you hungry for more. There are times when I felt, he generalised issues by stretching them over the entire country. To be fair, he does assert India's multifacetedness many times.
All in all a good read.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Aug 05, 2011
Scott
rated it:
Most books on India are very difficult to read. This nation is too diverse to try and get a broad scope on it....normally you have to look at only one small part of it and hope to grasp it then move to something else.
This book though is an exception. The author does an amazing job at looking at how India has risen since independence and at the same time acknowledging all tht is still wrong within the nation. As an outsider that worked in Delhi for numerous years and married into an Indian fa More...
This book though is an exception. The author does an amazing job at looking at how India has risen since independence and at the same time acknowledging all tht is still wrong within the nation. As an outsider that worked in Delhi for numerous years and married into an Indian fa More...
May 13, 2008
Kelly
rated it: 
Mistitled here. It's not the "strange" rise of modern India, just "the rise of modern India." I don't usually dig nonfiction, but this was at once both an entertaining and illuminating look at modern India from an outsider who clearly knows the place well and loves it dearly. He's boiling the ocean, without a doubt, but it's a good primer. Just one person's perspective, but a well-researched, well-reasoned one.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jan 17, 2012
Laura
rated it:
I'm traveling to India in March and knew next to nothing about India when I started this book. I came away with a much better understanding of the conflicts and dichotomies India grapples with as exponential development continues: Hindus and Muslims, Brahmins and Dalits, rapid urban development and abject rural poverty, democracy and corruption. For the most part, I found Luce informative and engaging. The material could be dry, but I appreciated that he spiced it up with anecdotes and vignette
More...
Nov 20, 2008
Grania
rated it:
Fantastic summary of the contradictions of a developing world unbroken democracy, and unbroken civilisation. India is a huge nation of extremes difficult to summarise, and this book makes an excellent attempt at explaining the obvious disparity bewteen the engineering succeses of modern India, and the crushing poverty of the majority.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jun 01, 2010
Gaurav
rated it:
Fascinating. The coverage of history, and intertwined with the present. As an Indian, there were things I myself did not know, and Luce left me hungry for more information.
The gratifying feature was that Ed Luce, unlike most other writers, was not wary of presenting his own opinions.
The gratifying feature was that Ed Luce, unlike most other writers, was not wary of presenting his own opinions.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Oct 11, 2010
Rajesh
rated it:
I would recommend this book to people who are interested in learning more about the current state of India and it's recent rise. Luce, a journalist with the Financial Times who has extensively covered India and South Asia gives a good, broad overview of many topics.
As an Indian-American, I can certainly appreciate the enormous complexity that is India and I think that Luce breaks India down into bite-sized pieces.
His major topics include the intrusion of the state into Indian life More...
As an Indian-American, I can certainly appreciate the enormous complexity that is India and I think that Luce breaks India down into bite-sized pieces.
His major topics include the intrusion of the state into Indian life More...
Aug 25, 2009
Aastha
rated it:
This is definitely one of the best geopolitical books I've read about India yet. Edward Luce, a correspondent with the Financial Times, has clearly done his research. He is also very evidently familiar with India as a whole. In their attempt to try to understand the mystery that is India, many authors tend to fall into the trap of trying to describe all of India as one big monolith. Luce is very cautious to specify his observations, distinguishing them by geography (urban-rural, north-south, eas
More...
Feb 16, 2009
kareem
rated it:
my cousin from delhi gave me this, and i read it while traveling in india.
it's a great overview of where india is and is poised to go in the 21st century. luce explains india's dynasty politics (nehru/gandhi) and religious context to help the reader understand how india's bureaucracy, system of government, conflict with pakistan, treatment of muslims, relationship with china and the US, and current economic drivers will play a role in india becoming the next great superpower.
More...
it's a great overview of where india is and is poised to go in the 21st century. luce explains india's dynasty politics (nehru/gandhi) and religious context to help the reader understand how india's bureaucracy, system of government, conflict with pakistan, treatment of muslims, relationship with china and the US, and current economic drivers will play a role in india becoming the next great superpower.
More...
Aug 25, 2009
getAbstract
rated it:
Eye-opening account of modern India
getAbstract recommends this excellent, well-written work of reportage on India. Edward Luce provides a colorful, striking picture of the country and its unconventional path to development. Within the past several years, numerous books have been published about so-called “Chindia,” the phenomenon of the economic emergence of the two most populous nations on earth. Luce makes it very clear that categorizing India with any other place, including the ev More...
getAbstract recommends this excellent, well-written work of reportage on India. Edward Luce provides a colorful, striking picture of the country and its unconventional path to development. Within the past several years, numerous books have been published about so-called “Chindia,” the phenomenon of the economic emergence of the two most populous nations on earth. Luce makes it very clear that categorizing India with any other place, including the ev More...
Jul 20, 2010
Alice
rated it:
I enjoyed this book and learned a lot about how Indian government functions. The author is British, but married to an Indian and lived there many years. He does a good job of comparing and contrasting the Indian way of seeing the world with the typical "western" way. But, he's an economist - and some of his suggestions for how India should move in the future seem very backward to me. For example, he says small farmers need to sell the land so that it can be consolidated into big farms
More...
Jan 09, 2009
Arati
rated it:
An excellent account of social/political development in modern India (basically since the time I left India for the US).
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Mar 15, 2011
Hemanshu
rated it:
My lone train journey was made so so interesting.... Being an Indian, the book stated facts and perceptions that Indians have a thorough understanding in. But to see these feelings being penned down by a foreign author both excited and astonished me... Edward's understanding of India is critical, but he does cut the administrative some slack. His thorough understanding of how d IAS system works in India is reflected in the book.
Being a Nehru admirer, I do find him a little critical of Nehr More...
Being a Nehru admirer, I do find him a little critical of Nehr More...
May 05, 2011
Joan
rated it:
As someone who thought of India as a forbidden caste that should I try to learn about it, I might end up overwhelmed and in over my head, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that India was just as messed up as I think of the US! And comparing it to China, I thought India seemed to be a much more like-minded place to live than there, maybe because they're a democracy. But it does have a lot of problems, like the caste system, pollution, and the fact that it's hard to get a decent education i
More...
Jul 04, 2008
D.W.
rated it:
I plan on traveling to India soon and bought this book to get a sense of the country today and catch up on recent history. It's a little more Current Affairs or even Economics than I usually go for, but it definitely served its purpose. Luce, a journalist, carries off his first book with plenty of skill, cramming a ton of information on a wide range of topics into an accessible, well-organized package that gives the impression of one amazing fact, colorful portrait and plum quote after another
More...
May 04, 2007
Raghu
rated it:
This book by Edward Luce, a British journalist who served many years in India, is a very insightful study of the complexities and contradictions of today's India and its development. It doesn't get carried away by India's burgeoning IT sector or its middle class or its pharmaceutical and other sectors which are doing well in a globalized world. It balances it with disturbing facts such as the following:
that only 0.1% of India's workforce is employed by the IT sector; that only 0.7% India's More...
that only 0.1% of India's workforce is employed by the IT sector; that only 0.7% India's More...
Oct 03, 2008
Chip
rated it:
Having known little to nothing about India, this book was greatly practical, interesting to read, and well-researched and well-analyzed. Luce, an Englishman, married to an Indian, lived in and worked for the "Financial Times" in India, does have a distinctly certain bias. Admittedly, he does offer very convincing arguments, portraying both sides of the issue and gives a credible attempt at objectivity. This is not a work of the entire Indian history, nor is it very scholarly in scope.
More...
Sep 07, 2011
Indy
rated it:
as far as Political issues are concerned this book is good read however, Edward Luce certainly has taken a bias and harsh stand when it comes to Hindus. Edward could have rather named this book - "In spite of HINDUISM". He glaringly omits lot of facts when it come to Hindu, BJP and RSS: on this blog you will find the writer has given page by page of Luce's book manipulation of the facts : http://koenraadelst.blogspot.com/2008/10...
Jun 06, 2010
Corrine
rated it:
I read this book while traveling through India. It was very interesting. The author has a bit of a love/hate relationship with India. He is British, but married to an Indian woman and has lived in India for many years. So he sees both the good parts of India and the problems facing India. I would not have enjoyed my travels through India nearly as much if I hadn't had this book to help me "see" the things I was seeing.
Jun 20, 2007
Kristina
rated it:
Although this book is saturated with great information, the organization of the book is jumbled. In his effort to explain the development of the current society and politics, he goes back and forth in time frequently which I personally found a bit confusing. For someone who is not as well versed in Indian history, the ever switching timeline can obfuscate his message. The author puts his personal opinion on history and does not shy away from harsh criticisms of people both named and anonymous
More...
Oct 12, 2010
The paradox of this country seems to give rise to numerous takes on the seemingly logic-defying inner machinery at work in India. This one takes the religion route, which undoubtedly shapes much of what happens and brings out some interesting points, not all of them being unique but analyzed well enough for you to not put down this book as yet another look at India through a foreigner's lens.
Apr 17, 2009
Chakradhar
rated it:
Overall a nice book to read
Pros-His meetings with the political bigwigs are interesting.His candid discussions give us a inside look about the leaders take on issues like development,power,money and politics.
Cons-He appeeared to be biased against the Hindu religious groups such as Art of Living.He should have taken time to know them better.
Pros-His meetings with the political bigwigs are interesting.His candid discussions give us a inside look about the leaders take on issues like development,power,money and politics.
Cons-He appeeared to be biased against the Hindu religious groups such as Art of Living.He should have taken time to know them better.
Mar 22, 2009
Mia
rated it:
For someone like me who is fairly uninformed about all but the most widely publicized aspects of modern Indian society, this was an even-handed and informative exploration of the various factors at play in India's growth as a democracy and an emerging economic and plolitical power.
