Edward Luce - In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India

This book is not about a love affair with the culture and antiqui-ties of India. I have read too many paeans to India by foreigners tohave any thoughts of adding to that extensive list. It is about thechanging political economy and society of a country whose futurewill increasingly affect the rest of the world. When reporting onIndia for the Financial Times I usually adhered to the detached andimpersonal style that journalists follow. But a book is different andmuch of what follows is in the first person. Some of what is con-tained in these pages is of a critical nature, occasionally verycritical. It is hard to observe and chronicle the workings of India'spolitical, economic and legal systems without sometimes feelingoutrage at the squandering of life opportunities for the hundreds ofmillions of Indians who still live in poverty. Their opportunitiesare improving, albeit not rapidly enough — but improving never-theless. It is hard, too, not to feel frustration with the largenumbers of foreigners and Indians who are still wont to see Indiathrough a purely spiritual lens. A lot is written about Americanand French exceptionalism (neither of which sanctifies poverty, itshould be added). A lot more could still be written on the Indian variety.

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