The Billionaire Raj: A Journey Through India's New Gilded Age is a 2018 non-fiction book written by British author James Crabtree. The book is about wealth inequality in India, exploring Indian billionaires, the caste, and economic reform advocates. Crabtree is a journalist for Financial Times.
 | |
| Editors | James Crabtree |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Nonfiction |
| Published | July 2018 |
| Publisher | Tim Duggan Books |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Paperback |
| Pages | 416 |
| ISBN | 978-1-524-760069 |
Reception
editIn the Literary Review, Oliver Balch calls the book "thoroughly entertaining" and writes that the economic content "neither bores nor overbears", but criticises the "familiarity of some of its examples".[1]
A Publishers Weekly review lauds the book as "an invaluable commentary on Indian democracy", and praises Crabtree for "[bringing] a reporter's precision and flair to his story".[2] A Kirkus Reviews critic summarises the book as "[s]olid reading for students of economic development and global economics".[3] Tunku Varadarajan of Wall Street Journal compliments the book for being "a lively and valuable blend of the empirical and the anecdotal".[4] Melissa van der Klugt of The Times calls the book "timely reading" and says Crabtree has an "eye for detail", but notes that it is an "oddly macho book" due to only rare mentions of women.[5]
Writing in the Financial Times, Meghnad Desai describes the book as “the most comprehensive and eminently readable tour of economic India.”[6]
Jonathan Knee of The New York Times laments that the book "does not fully profile the diverse community of Indian billionaires" and that "the lines between the many forms of corruption described are far from clear", though Knee praises that The Billionaire Raj "is chock-full of profoundly revealing vignettes".[7]
Writing for Mint, V. Anantha Nageswaran notes the absence of the United Progressive Alliance in the book and praises Crabtree's writing and "eye of a good journalist for details".[8] comments on the absence of IT entrepreneurs, but believes there is "no comparable account of India's gilded age", complimenting the book as "a reporting gem" which "deserves to be widely read".[9] Una Galani of Reuters notes that the book is not optimistic but says that Crabtree "deserves credit for delving deep into cronyism".[10]
The book has also been reviewed in Business Standard,[11] Financial Times[12] and The Economist.[13] Crabtree has been interviewed on the book by multiple media outlets including Mint,[14] The Times of India,[15] The Wire,[16] The Indian Express[17] and The Financial Express.[18]
Awards
editIn November 2018, The Billionaire Raj was named Business Book of the Year at the Tata LitLive! Awards in Mumbai.[19]
Nominations
edit- The book was shortlisted for the 2018 Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award.[20]
References
edit- ^ Balch, Oliver. "Rise of the Bollygarchs". Literary Review. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
- ^ "Nonfiction Book Review: The Billionaire Raj: A Journey Through India's New Gilded Age by James Crabtree. Crown/Duggan, $27 (369p) ISBN 978-1-5247-6006-9". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
- ^ THE BILLIONAIRE RAJ by James Crabtree | Kirkus Reviews.
- ^ Varadarajan, Tunku (4 July 2018). "'The Billionaire Raj' Review: Gatsby on the Ganges". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
- ^ Klugt, Melissa van der (14 July 2018). "Review: The Billionaire Raj by James Crabtree — inside the world of India's super-rich". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
- ^ Desai, Meghnad (5 July 2018). "The rapid ascent of India's super-rich". Financial Times. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
- ^ Knee, Jonathan. "Review: 'The Billionaire Raj' Offers Reasons for Optimism in India's Gilded Age". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
- ^ Nageswaran, V. Anantha (23 July 2018). "James Crabtree's exertions and excursions". Mint. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
- ^ "Grime Beneath the Glitter". The Indian Express. 21 July 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
- ^ Galani, Una (6 July 2018). "Robber barons reset". Reuters.
- ^ Sanghvi, Vir (3 August 2018). "The Billionaire Raj: Cricket to elections, how money has changed everything". Business Standard India. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
- ^ "The rapid ascent of India's super-rich". Financial Times. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
- ^ "The tycoons who are powering India's rise". The Economist. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
- ^ Sinha, Vikram (25 August 2018). "India is one of the world's most unequal countries: James Crabtree". Mint. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
- ^ "India has moved people out of poverty but it's become much more unequal, says James Crabtree, author of The Billionaire Raj - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
- ^ "Much Of Wealth Created In 2000s A Result Of Economy Of Favours: James Crabtree". The Wire. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
- ^ "Other successful developing Asian economies have been more equal than India". The Indian Express. 21 July 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
- ^ "Book review: James Crabtree's The Billionaire Raj talks of India's new gilded age". The Financial Express. 22 July 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
- ^ Tata.com. "Prestigious literary awards ceremony at the grand finale of the ninth edition of Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest via @tatacompanies". tata.com. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
- ^ "FT/McKinsey Business Book of the Year — the shortlist". Financial Times. 14 September 2018. Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2018.