In only six decades since independence, India has gone from a place associated with some of the most wretched poverty on Earth to one that, economically, could dominate the 21st century. French examines the cultural foundations that have made possible a stunningly accelerated transformation from listless planned economy to capitalist and entrepreneurial powerhouse.

"When Indian leaders first took control of their government in 1947, they proclaimed the ideals of national unity and secular democracy. Through the first half century of nation-building, leaders could point to uneven but measurable progress on key goals, and after the mid-1980s, dire poverty declined for a few decades, inspiring declarations of victory. But today, a vast majority of Indians live in a state of underemployment, and are one crisis away...