"Few journalists have been known to venture beyond the country’s provincial capitals into the ‘great out there’, where four out of every five Indians live. To have done it as Dilip Hiro did ...makes for absorbing reading" - Claire Sterling, New York Times Book Review"The best book on India to have appeared for a long time" - Walter Schwarz, The Guardian "What makes his book essential reading is its concise encapsulation of the bewildering complexity of India’s pluralistic political and economic life within a framework that is accessible without being oversimplified" - Zareer Masani, The Observer"A major reference work on a fascinating but complex country" - Phillip Knightley, The Sunday Times