Arun Mohan Sukumar - Midnights Machines: A political history of technology in India

I have no doubt that Midnights Machines will be heralded for years to come as the definitive account of Indias attempts to negotiate its technological destiny. In his trail-blazing book, Arun Mohan Sukumar masterfully blends history, science and politics to deliver a narrative that both enthralls and informs. He proves himself to be that rare historian with a journalists eye for detail and a novelists ear for prose. A must-read for all interested in Indias technological role in the twenty-first century worldShashi Tharoor, member of Parliament for Thiruvananthapuram

Midnights Machines boldly addresses the great conundrum: why, despite the political will and technical ingenuity, has India since 1947 failed to become a more technologically advanced and self-sufficient society? Sukumar unveils a critical, often devastating, critique of what went wrong in the countrys tortuous relationship with modern technology. Religion, science, domestic politics, international diplomacy, sceptical leadership and public doubtall make this a compelling work of insight and analysis. Splendidly researched and fluently written, Midnights Machines deftly combines historical causes and contemporary dilemmas. This is the masterpiece that other accounts of Indias technology will need to come to terms withDavid Arnold, author of Everyday Technology: Machines and the Making of Indias Modernity

There are some books which, once they appear, make the reader wonder why they hadnt been written before. This account of Indias often tortured relationship with technology belongs in that genre. As a symbol of the modernity that defined imperialism, technology has always been suspect for Indians who wanted to create a new ideal of freedom. Sukumar traces the interminable debate over this problem in Indian politics and evaluates its very real consequences in fascinating detailFaisal Devji, professor of Indian history, University of Oxford

Midnights Machines is a sweeping and provocative exploration of postcolonial Indias romance with modern technology. It examines the record of this romance of over seventy years with admirable assurance and a keen eye to identify how attempts to engineer the nation with machines have always been bound up with political machinations, explaining a persistently contradictory approach to technology. Learned and thoughtful, the book offers an energetically written argument about the relationship between technology and politics in postcolonial IndiaGyan Prakash, Dayton-Stockton Professor of History, Princeton University

This perfectly titled book stands out in a line of histories of Indias technologies. It is both satisfying for those whove long observed Indias war over self-reliance and essential for beginners. His archival and interviewing work clarify the difficult comparisons of India with China, Japan, or Europe. The hundred year history of Make in India is opened up, and everyday technologies, like radios, fresh milk, and vaccines, are properly situated in the inevitable mega-projects. Because individuals are depicted as having had important influences throughout, this is not a bloodless chronicle. Sukumar excels in handling the dialectics of the adoption of computers and their application to rural and industrial development, including public administration. Both the unending contest of values and the war of new techniques and unintended consequences are succinctly explained and illuminated. There is a crisp contemporary feel to this book, with a good touch of irony that will appeal even to readers who dont necessarily agree with all his interpretations. This book is an important engagement, in Sukumars words, with the countrys vexed history with technologyRobert Anderson, author of Nucleus and Nation: Scientists, International Networks, and Power in India

For my teachers

All things to be truly wicked must start from an innocence

Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast