Midnight's Borders

By Suchitra Vijayan,

Book cover of Midnight's Borders: A People's History of Modern India

Book description

A Booklist "Top 10 History Book of 2022"

The first true people's history of modern India, told through a seven-year, 9,000-mile journey along its many contested borders

Sharing borders with six countries and spanning a geography that extends from Pakistan to Myanmar, India is the world's largest democracy and second…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Midnight's Borders as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

India’s birth as an independent nation threw its borders into sharp focus due to Partition. Lines were hurriedly scribbled across a map to create multiple new nations and throw most of South Asia into ceaseless turmoil. What I appreciate about the author’s approach is that she travels the length of India’s land borders and captures oral stories of individuals living daily lives in these tense spaces that are highly contested but also largely forgotten. This book is a travelog unlike any other across a part of India that is nearly impossible to visit.

From Venkataraghavan's list on discovering a modern India you’ve never seen.

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