Vajpayee: The Ascent of the Hindu Right, 1924–1977 (Winner of the 2023 Tata Literature Live! First Book Award)
Author: Abhishek Choudhary
Price: Rs. 849.00 • ✓ 100% Genuine Publisher Edition
Book Overview
About This Book"Winner of the 2023 Tata Literature Live! First Book Award Shortlisted for the 2023 Atta Galatta Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize ‘The finest biography of an Indian prime minister that I have read’ – Ramachandra Guha, author of India After Gandhi: A History ‘A real achievement, an instant classic and a total triumph’ – Shruti Kapila, Professor of History and Politics, University of Cambridge and author of Violent Fraternity: Indian Political Thought in the Global Age ‘Doubles as a history of Hindu supremacism; it won’t be bettered for a long time’ – Pankaj Mishra, author of Age of Anger: A History of the Present ‘Extraordinary and unputdownable. This is biography done right’ – Sonia Faleiro, author of The Good Girls: An Ordinary Killing A man of unusual gifts and dangerously consequential flaws, Atal Behari Lal Vajpaye was the Hindu Right’s most glamorized and enigmatic face until now. Drawing on a natural talent to pull in the crowds with his eloquence, he elevated his physically frail and academically mediocre self to become a powerful spokesperson of historical victimhood. In this singularly gripping account, Abhishek Choudhary sets out to prove that Vajpayee was far more critical to the project of Hinduizing India than is commonly understood. He uncovers how Vajpayee’s early life, of which we know shockingly little, lies at the heart of his political character: essentially conservative yet curious and conciliatory, detached yet quietly ambitious. Weaving previously unseen documents with revealing interviews, Choudhary layers this definitive biography with details of Vajpayee’s underground activities in the wake of Gandhi’s assassination; his early obsession with foreign policy; the shock from the premature deaths of his parents; his tortuous private life and maudlin poetry; his key role in the SVD coalition experiment; his defence of the Sangh Parivar inside the parliament and his averments and deferments outside. In so doing, this extraordinary debut revises several lazy myths and false binaries that have come to dominate Indian political discourse. The sympathy of Congress conservatives and Hindi intelligentsia for the RSS, Patel’s own extended ambiguity, Nehru’s innate conviction that East Pakistan would merge back with India, Indira Gandhi’s fleet-footed attack on the Jan Sangh’s finances and electoral chances, the foolish fantasies of JP’s Total Revolution and the Sangh Parivar’s dubious heroism in the Emergency are also revisited to reveal the complexity of India’s democracy. The first of a two-volume study, Vajpayee: The Ascent of the Hindu Right is a stunningly original portrait of Hindutva’s first prime minister." Read moreBook DetailsAuthor: Abhishek ChoudharyPublisher: Picador India (10 May 2023); Pan Macmillan Publishing, 707, 7th Floor, Kailash Building 26, K.G. Marg, New Delhi, Delhi 110001Format: Hardcover – 10 May 2023Language: EnglishPages: 432ISBN: 978-9395624497Dimensions: 21.5 x 14 x 2.9 cmWeight: 250 g
Browse this title within our Social Sciences and Education collection. Edition details: Hardcover – 10 May 2023, English.
Book Specifications & Quick Facts
- Reading Level
- Students & Academic Researchers
- Language & Format
- English • Hardcover – 10 May 2023
- ISBN Reference
- Available on request
- Publisher
- Picador India (10 May 2023); Pan Macmillan Publishing, 707, 7th Floor, Kailash Building 26, K.G. Marg, New Delhi, Delhi 110001
- Pan-India Delivery
- Dispatches in 24–48 Hours across India
What is this book about?
About This Book"Winner of the 2023 Tata Literature Live! First Book Award Shortlisted for the 2023 Atta Galatta Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize ‘The finest biography of an Indian prime minister that I have read’ – Ramachandra Guha, author of India After Gandhi: A History ‘A real...
Who should read this book?
Valuable for university students, educators, and scholars seeking authoritative reference material and structured subject mastery.
Why Readers Pick This Edition
- You’ll love this book for its rare blend of rigorous scholarship and compulsive storytelling. It doesn’t just trace Vajpayee’s early political rise—it pulls you deep into the making of the Hindu Right and the ideas that reshaped Indian politics. Clear-eyed, deeply researched, and surprisingly gripping, this is the kind of biography that sharpens your understanding of power, ideology, and history long after you turn the last page.
- Published by Picador India (10 May 2023); Pan Macmillan Publishing, 707, 7th Floor, Kailash Building 26, K.G. Marg, New Delhi, Delhi 110001.
- Language: English.
Catalog Description
About This Book"Winner of the 2023 Tata Literature Live! First Book Award Shortlisted for the 2023 Atta Galatta Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize ‘The finest biography of an Indian prime minister that I have read’ – Ramachandra Guha, author of India After Gandhi: A History ‘A real achievement, an instant classic and a total triumph’ – Shruti Kapila, Professor of History and Politics, University of Cambridge and author of Violent Fraternity: Indian Political Thought in the Global Age ‘Doubles as a history of Hindu supremacism; it won’t be bettered for a long time’ – Pankaj Mishra, author of Age of Anger: A History of the Present ‘Extraordinary and unputdownable. This is biography done...
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