In this article, we are going to discuss the 10 Best Books on Indian Politics and History that will help people to understand more about India.
India was known as the ‘Golden Bird’ before the British Raj. As a result, many merchants came here to do business and got a large profit. People from all over the world came here for studying. The fame of the great university Nalanda became the reason for the attraction of the people.
From the ancient to the modern era, India has a very interesting, beautiful, and glorious history. Therefore, people have always been interested in the culture, lifestyle, dress, food, interpersonal relationships of the people here.
Moreover, the history of India is a witness to the unique works of many great men like Gautam Buddha, Mahatma Gandhi.
If you want to know the glorious history of India, then you should read its history.
Let’s start our list of the top 10 best books on Indian politics and history that are written by great authors.
List of 10 Best Books on Indian Politics and History
1.Discovery of India
2.The Great Indian Novel
3.The Argumentative Indian
4.Freedom at Midnight
5.India after Gandhi: The History of the World’s Largest Democracy
6.India: A History
7.An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India
8.The Wonder That Was India
9.History of Modern India
10.Train to Pakistan
1. Discovery of India
| Author | Jawaharlal Nehru |
| Publication | November 14, 1946 |
| Rating | 4.5 out of 5 |
About-
India’s first prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru wrote ‘Discovery of India.’ It has a glimpse of ancient India to modern India. Nehru has talked about Vedas, Upanishads, and many epics such as Gita, Ramayana through this book.
He beautifully displayed the glorious history of India. In this book, Nehru also discussed the problems that Indians faced during the partition between India and Pak. Along with it, it is combined with history, philosophy, and a little bit of biography as well.
Nehru created it so knowledgeable that it had become one of the best books on Indian politics and history.
2. The Great Indian Novel
| Author | Shashi Tharoor |
| Publication | August 24, 1989 |
| Rating | 4.3 out of 5 |
About-
The book ‘The Great Indian Novel‘ has related to the story of the great Indian epic Mahabharata. It is a reinterpretation of the Hindu epic, that is, the Mahabharata in a modern context.
Firstly, Nehru is portrayed as blind Dhritarashtra. Similarly, Mahatma Gandhi was portrayed as Bheeshma Pitamah. The reason behind this is Gandhi’s celibacy and his distance from the official position of the Congress Party.
Keeping in mind the stories of Mahabharata, the author also has depicted the political, economic, and social systems of India. Moreover, he portrays the situations of common Indian people. And also creates it easy to understand language that makes it very simple.
3. The Argumentative Indian
| Author | Amartya Sen |
| Publication | June 2, 2005 |
| Rating | 4.3 out of 5 |
About-
The book ‘The Argumentative Indian’ is a collection of essays that discuss the history of India. The author created it on mainly four topics comprehensively which are- Voice and Heterodoxy; Culture and Communication; Politics and Protest; Reason and Identity.
In the first section, he talks about ancient history during the Budhha and the king of Kalinga Ashoka. Similarly, the second section fills with great Indian culture. The third section describes the political movement of great leaders. And the last section shows how India and its culture is different from another country in the world.
If you really want to know about India and its past, Identity, and culture then you must read it. It will be proved one of the best books on Indian history for you.
4. Freedom at Midnight
| Author | Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins |
| Publication | 1975 |
| Rating | 4.3 out of 5 |
About-
“Freedom at Midnight” is about the incidents around Indian movements and the India-Pak partition. The setting of it is in the last year of the British Empire from 1947 to 1948.
It comprehensively discusses how the partition of India and Pak takes place. It also describes how India starts to establish their own independence.
For making it more engaging the author also provides the maps of Panjab, Bengal, and Kashmir of partition time. The author took many interviews with popular leaders who participated in the Indian movement for freedom.
5. India after Gandhi: The History of the World’s Largest Democracy
| Author | Ramachandra Guha |
| Publication | July 24, 2007 |
| Rating | 4.6 out of 5 |
About-
This is one of the best books for modern Indian history. It referred to the situation in India after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. The publication year of it is 2007, but it discusses the major changes in India between 1946 to 2007.
The author interviewed several political leaders as a result of which the book contains many secrets known to very few people. In conclusion, This book is very good for all students or an ordinary person who takes interest in history.
6. India: A History
| Author | John Keay |
| Publication | 2000 |
| Rating | 4.2 out of 5 |
About-
The interesting thing about this story is that it provides a continuous history from the Indus Valley Civilization to the modern era. In other words, it has detailed information about all the major events of Indian history.
When you start reading it, you will find yourself in a very ancient age, and as you progress further, you will find yourself in a modern era, that is its specialty.
7. An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India
| Author | Shashi Tharoor |
| Publication | 2016 |
| Rating | 4.5 out of 5 |
About-
Through this book, the author has put the black face of the British Raj in front of Indians. He also mentioned how the British exploited the people of India for almost 200 years.
The physical and emotional value of loot and loss is described in detail in this extensively researched book. The author has sometimes praised the British because they applied many good policies in their reign. It is a very well-written and well-structured book.
This book is one of the best books for modern Indian politics and history suggested by many scholars.
8. The Wonder That Was India
| Author | A L Basham |
| Publication | 1954 |
| Rating | 4.6 out of 5 |
About-
Firstly, it is the best book to understand the pre-historic and Vedic culture of India. Its language is very attractive. And it is also written in very easy-to-understand language. The book shows ancient traditions, superstitions that give place to the corresponding new ideologies.
In short, his will prove to be one of the best books on ancient Indian history for you.
9. History of Modern India
| Author | Bipan Chandra |
| Publication | 2001 |
| Rating | 4.3 out of 5 |
About-
The book is scheduled from 1942 to 1947. In short, it is the best book to cover modern Indian history. This book provides much information about the important incident of modern Indian history. Similarly, it mainly focuses on the economic, religious, and social history of India from political aspects.
In other words, it has decent knowledge about Indian movements for independence. The author tried his best to create such an enlightening book. This book is a must for history students as well as those who want to get an insight into the history of modern India.
10. Train to Pakistan
| Author | Kushwant Singh |
| Publication | 1956 |
| Rating | 4.3 out of 5 |
About-
It recounts the partition of India from the perspective of Mano Majra that is a fictional frontier village in August 1947.
The story begins when India and Pakistan are divided on the basis of religion. People are divided into Hindu and Muslim. As a result, people hate each other on the basis of religion. Moreover, communal riots begin and rivers of blood start flowing.
However, despite all this, the small village of Mano Majra is safe. It has a train station but very few trains stop here. Hence, they usually have no idea about what is happening in Delhi. Furthermore, these people have known each other for a long time. They have no enmity towards each other because of their religion.
Conclusion
These are the best Indian politics and history books in which the majority are written by Indian authors. You must read it to understand India well. All the authors have created something unique in their books. So, if you read all books mentioned above, it will be proved very helpful for you.
Hope you will read these books.
Thank You.
Further Read
