Democracy on the Road

On the eve of a landmark general election Ruchir Sharma offers an unrivalled portrait of how India and its democracy work drawn from his two decades on the road chasing election campaigns across every major state travelling the equivalent of a lap around the earth. Democracy on the Road takes readers on a rollicking ride with Ruchir and his merry band of fellow writers as they talk to farmers shopkeepers and CEOs from Rajasthan to Tamil Nadu and interview leaders from Narendra Modi to Rahul Gandhi.No book has traced the arc of modern India by taking readers so close to the action. Offering an intimate view inside the lives and minds of India's political giants and its people Sharma explains how the complex forces of family caste and community economics and development money and corruption Bollywood and Godmen have conspired to elect and topple Indian leaders since Indira Gandhi. The ultimately encouraging message of Ruchir's travels is that while democracy is retreating in many parts of the world it is thriving in India. About the Author Ruchir Sharma is a global investor and a writer. He is currently a contributing opinion writer with theNew York Times. His most recent bookThe Rise and Fall of Nations Forces of Change in the Post-Crisis World was released in June 2016 and instantly became aNew York Times bestseller. His 2012 bookBreakout Nations In Pursuit of the Next Economic Miracles debuted as the number one bestseller in India and earned Sharma the Tata Literature Live! First Book Award for 2012.Breakout Nations also made it to theWall Street Journal hardcover business bestseller list and was chosen by Foreign Policy as one of its '21 Books to Read in 2012'.