Discovery of India by Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru wrote the book when he was in prison in the year 1942-1946. It traces India’s history starting from the Indus Valley Civilization. The first prime minister of India has given a detailed account of the events and happenings from the coming of the Aryans to the establishment of the British Empire. This book was also produced as an award-winning 53-episode-long television series ‘Bharat Ek Khoj’ by Shyam Benegal. Anyone who is interested in knowing about the incredibly long past of the country should read this book.
Freedom at Midnight by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre
This book talks about India’s independence movement during 1946 and 1948. It gives you a detailed knowledge about the series of events that unfold during this period. The author has extensively researched. The book also includes interviews with Lord Mountbatten, the last viceroy of British India.
The Argumentative Indian by Amartya Sen
The book is a series of essays narrating India’s history and how that history has influenced. It also gives you
details of how it has shaped India’s cultural identity. Sen, who is a Nobel Prize winning economist, talks about how India has had a long history of public debate and how heterodoxy was prevalent in Indian society centuries ago.
India after Gandhi: The History of the World’s Largest
Democracy by Ramachandra Guha
This book written by Ramachandra Guha talks about India’s history after it gained independence. The book gives you a detailed insight into the evolution of Modern India. Guha, a professor-turned-historian, has simplified India’s chaotic and eventful history since independence, for the readers. He has covered partition, Nehru’s socialist policies, Rajiv Gandhi’s impactful career, the rise of religion and caste-based politics, etc.
The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty: Delhi, 1857 by William Dalrymple
The award winning historian and travel writer talks about a culturally diverse and rich society during the rule of Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal emperor, in the book. William lists the manner in which these events unfolded after 1857, when the first war against the British (known popularly as the Sepoy Mutiny) marked the end of the Mughal rule.