BOOK REVIEW : Barbara crossette, INDIA: FACING THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, Indianapolis, 1993

This article is a scholarly review of the book "India: Facing the Twenty-First Century" by the journalist Barbara Crossette. The reviewer provides an overview of the book's main themes, which offer a sweeping journalistic portrayal of India as it stood on the brink of major economic and social change in the early 1990s. The review assesses Crossette's analysis of the key challenges and transformations in Indian politics, society, and foreign policy. The reviewer evaluates the book's strengths, likely praising its accessible style and its insightful observations based on extensive reporting, as well as its potential weaknesses from an academic perspective. The review concludes by offering a final judgment on the book's contribution to the popular and scholarly understanding of contemporary India.

This article offers a critical review of Barbara Crossette's widely-read book, "India: Facing the Twenty-First Century." The review begins by summarizing the author's ambitious attempt to capture the complexity and contradictions of modern India at a pivotal moment in its history—the period immediately following the start of major economic liberalization in 1991. The reviewer likely discusses Crossette's key arguments about the resilience of Indian democracy, the challenges of religious nationalism, and the country's evolving role in the world. The review would assess the book's journalistic approach, which combines vivid anecdotes and on-the-ground reporting with broader political and social analysis. The reviewer would offer a balanced critique, acknowledging the book's success in making the complexities of India accessible to a general Western audience. At the same time, it might critique the book for occasional oversimplifications or for not engaging deeply with the academic literature on the subjects it covers. The review would likely conclude that Crossette's book is a valuable and highly readable introduction to the state of India in the early 1990s, serving as an excellent primer for the non-specialist reader, even if it lacks the theoretical depth of a purely academic study.