About the Author

Gyanendra Pandey is Professor of Anthropology and History at Johns Hopkins University.

Reviews

"The clarity and passion with which Pandey critiques Hindu nationalism, the rigor he applies to his analysis of national belonging, communitarian sentiment, and the possibilities (and pitfalls) of "the practice of coexistence" are invigorating and thought-provoking... The book is eloquent, urgent, and important... Where Pandey critically deconstructs particular discourses, specific phenomena, and certain events, his writing is incisive, his language fluid and fast-moving, and his manner of analysis inspiring." - H-Net Reviews "Pandeys empirically rich, analytically sophisticated, and theoretically constructive book is an exemplar of subaltern studies... This may be the most thorough reanalysis of postpartition India to date." - Perspectives on Politics "A historian who has, in the past, written brilliantly on the extraordinary violence of anti-colonial movements and sectarian conflicts now turns his attention to the violence of ordinary times. Pandey looks at the routine violence practised by legitimate states in unexceptional conditions. His intricate analysis forces us to rethink our commonsensical notions about the thresholds of acceptable violence." - Partha Chatterjee,Columbia University