Here is a list of 15 books on India written by both Indians and foreigners that one should read to understand India better. It is not an exhaustive list, but a representation of diverse opinions in the form of books from various personalities on India. This list is drawn from my own experience and also from various sources on internet after going through their reviews.
Below each book, I will give a link to its review (mostly from ‘nytimes.com‘ ‘goodreads.com‘, ‘Guardian.co.uk‘ etc) and link to Flipkart if you are interested to buy them (you know why Flipkart!)
1) DISCOVERY OF INDIA – By Jawaharlal Nehru
2) IN SPITE OF GODS :THE STRANGE RISE OF MODERN INDIA By Edward Luce
3) A PASSAGE TO INDIA – By E.M.Forster
4) INDIA AFTER GANDHI – Ramachandra Guha
5) INDIA – A WOUNDED CIVILIZATION – By V.S. Naipaul
6) INDIA – A PORTRAIT – By Patrick French
7) THE WONDER THAT WAS INDIA – By A.L. Basham
8) AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN UNKNOWN INDIAN – By Nirad C. Chaudhuri
9) INDIA’S UNENDING JOURNEY – By Mark Tully
10) THE WORLD IS FLAT – By Thomas Friedman
11) INDIA UNBOUND – THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC REVOLUTION FROM INDEPENDENCE TO THE GLOBAL INFORMATION AGE – By Gurcharan Das
12) EVERYBODY LOVES A GOOD DROUGHT: STORIES FROM INDIA’S POOREST DISTRICTS – By P. Sainath
13) THE ARGUMENTATIVE INDIAN – By Amartya Sen
14) THE LAST MUGHAL – THE FALL OF A DYNASTY – By William Dalrymple
15) INDIA – A MILLION MUTINIES NOW – By V.S. Naipaul
