The gripping story of an explosive turning point in the history of modern IndiaOn the night of June 25, 1975, Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency in India, suspending constitutional rights and rounding up her political opponents in midnight raids across the country. In the twenty-one harrowing months that followed, her regime unleashed

"Emergency Chronicles is perhaps the most comprehensive scholarly examination yet of the Emergency. Looking back more than four decades after Indira Gandhi stunned India and the world by suspending demo­cracy, historian Gyan Prakash argues forcefully that this was no momentary distortion in India's democratic record or a nightmare that came from nowhere and vanished without a trace, leaving only its villains and heroes."---Ajoy Bose, India Today

"Compelling and unputdownable. With the keen eye of a social phenomenologist, Prakash vividly brings to life this catastrophic Indian episode in the global history of democracy's continuing struggles with populism and authoritarianism. A brilliantly woven narrative of the invasion of ordinary life by state power, this elegantly written book is gripping from cover to cover."—Rajeev Bhargava, author of The Promise of India's Secular Democracy“With vivid portrayals of lesser known characters and some striking archival photographs, Gyan Prakash has given us a thoughtful and superbly readable account of one of Indian democracy’s darkest episodes.”—Partha Chatterjee, Columbia University “Gyan Prakash’s lucid and astute account of India’s postcolonial history and the Emergency combines readability and consummate research with a powerful central argument about the vicissitudes of political freedom devoid of social revolution. It is the essential read for anyone who wants to understand democracy’s relationship with popular politics in the world today.”—Zoya Hasan, professor emerita, Jawaharlal Nehru University“Prakash has written an indispensable political and narrative history of one of the most significant phases of India’s democracy. Emergency Chronicles is an exceptional book.”—Shruti Kapila, University of Cambridge“In this lively and well-written book, Prakash makes the persuasive and important argument that the possibilities of suspending democracy are embedded in the legal and political frameworks of the Indian state, and that an awareness of this fact is essential to protecting and defending this democracy into the present day.”—Yasmin Khan, author of India at War: The Subcontinent and the Second World War“A brilliant, gripping study of one of democratic India’s darkest moments—the Emergency of 1975–77—that reveals the deepest lineaments of the Indian state. Bearing an important lesson for beleaguered democracies across the world today, Gyan Prakash brings the Indian experience into the global debate about democracy.”—Sunil Khilnani, King’s College London