The Indian Bourgeoisie

'It is very surprising that this exciting topic has not received greater academic and research attention in the past, and Professor Lockwood is to be warmly commended for identifying this peculiar gap in the literature. It is a most important thread in the story of the invention of modern India. Furthermore, the topic is becoming increasingly important as economic globalization forces scholars to explore the meaning of a world of separate nationalities, the processes by which they were created and the imperatives driving the outcome. The Indian Bourgeoisie shows the tormented process through which Indian business slowly separated itself from its British colleagues and came to the extraordinary decision (for such a conservative social group) to embrace the revolutionary cause of creating a separate state and rejecting its close association with the British Empire. The story involves multiple and changing tensions (through a tumultuous period in British history) between Indian business, the Raj, the British government, British business and the movement for Indian independence. Professor Lockwood is masterly in telling this complex story. The text is clear and vivid. Along with his earlier account of Tsarist Russia, this book could well launch a genre for the history of business classes in many different countries allowing broader generalizations on the advent of capitalism and its political and sociological implications. -Nigel Harris, Emeritus Professor of the Economics of the City, University College London