This was an informative and well-written book. I recommend it with a small caveat. I would advise reading a quick Wikipedia entry on modern Indian history (specifically focusing on India's Independence) before picking this book up. At times, I felt a bit bogged down by the political details but thankfully I was reading on my Kindle which allowed easy access to Wikipedia for further reading.

This book goes into great detail examining how corruption is deeply embedded in Indian society - especially for the impoverished. When you live so far below the poverty line, you will do what needs to be done to get by.

The sections on the billionaires was fascinating to read about. It is surreal to think that these wealthy individuals live in such close proximity to people who live on less than $1/day. It truly emphasized the economic disparity between the rich and poor.

I received a free copy of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It seems the author just wanted to spend time around the super-rich people enjoying their homes, jets and wines and decided to write a book about them for this very purpose!

There is nothing new here, either in Indian PM's performance or politics, his friendships with industrialists or favoritism. There is also nothing new about the the billionaires or their business practices. As in any other country on planet earth, business leaders are always in touch with and cavort ties with bureaucracy, political parties, members of judiciary, law enforcement, and celebrities to enhance their trade - the author makes is seem like the Indian businessman is like the Chinese businessman (corrupt and influential, and state-sponsored to some extent, in author's view) as opposed to the American or European head of a giant conglomerate.

The author also does not know about Indian culture which rests on showmanship and show-off-iness in equal measure.

His views on where Indian media is right now are also like stating the obvious. The transformation in news media (overemphasis on celebrity culture, hate-mongering on Pakistan and propagandist nature of news) occurred in early 2000s, not after Modi.

This is a very lazy piece of work.

This is both an ambitious book in terms of scope and a much-needed one in terms of subject matter. Crabtree covers many bases but he does it so methodically and in prose that is clear and compelling that it is hard not to read the book all the way through once you begin. For those who follow India's political and financial news judiciously, there are still gems here that the writer has presented given his research. For those new to the issues that India faces in the 21st century as capitalism takes it along interesting pathways, this will be a riveting account. [I will share the link to the fully-published review on PopMatters shortly.]

In a whirlwind tour of India's rapid economic ascent. Crabtree deftly explores the accompanying nexus of politics, money and development. Thorough narratives about the rise of the current political parties and their respective leaders, the paradigm changes in the political ethos driving the democracy, the key corruption scandals and political events that shaped the current environment provide the reader an excellent understanding of recent history.

It is unclear how the audience of the book is, however. For an Indophile, this will aid as a good collection of recent trends, but for the average reader the book provides a somewhat unguided tour of key business empires and nothing else. Even for those significantly attached to the region, the book offers nothing more than what they have experienced through newspapers for the past decade or so and will be seen as "yesterday's news". The narrative style, mostly first person travelogue, is breezy and informative; but the author never gets to discussing " so what?".

The chapters on the influence in sports and media are standouts - though he doesn't use the opportunity to draw more than superficial parallels to other media markets and intrigue the reader with some hypotheses or point to potential milemarkers or inflection points - there in is the biggest problem with the approach - it provides enough entertainment as a Bollywood movie but doesnt necessarily attempt to improve IQ points...

Great book and insights into the India economy and political system! Look forward to more works from the author.

James Crabtree’s The Billionaire Raj reads as equal parts exposé, profile of the ultra-wealthy, and author’s journey. Crabtree examines the question of how so many Indians have reached the highest ranks of the Forbes’ billionaire list in the last ten years. Looking sharply at India’s history since independence, the author points directly at cronyism in the forms of favors for land, natural resources, and government contracts as significant causes. These favors led directly to the boom on the mid 2000s, which Crabtree compares to the The Gilded Age of the United States. The overarcing inquest in The Billionaire Raj is whether the accumulation of wealth for so very few will or will not beget an economic boost for the hundreds of millions of poor in the country.

Crabtree breaks the book up into three parts, focusing on the players, the politics and the times (essentially 2005 to the present). He uses several examples of the leaders of industry to illustrate his thesis: including power, communications, liquor, electronics, to name a few. He delves into the complex question about the roles politics, regulation, capital, corruption, and individual grit played in the prosperity. I particularly like his explanation of the fixers, the people who who perform the litany of graft and favors that grease the wheels of the economy.

I feel like Crabtree takes a very healthy approach to his subject, one filled with optimism and objectivity. His research is thorough and well-quoted, and many times includes himself as a part of the writing process. One of the best allusions was to the TV show The Sopranos, which illustrated how ‘gifts’ and the use of fixers permeated most every deal. The familial, spiritual and financial backgrounds and the ascents of the key players was fascinating. Crabtree’s best writing is in his vast profile of controversial leader Narendra Modi which is woven throughout many of the sections.

I read this book over several days in twenty to thirty minute snatches of time; the depth and density of the writing necessitated many breaks. I felt like at times Crabtree had a hard time balancing between the narratives and the nuts and bolts of the economics. And it was hard to tell if it was best to organize the book thematically (as it is) or chronologically.

Overall, I came away from reading The Billionaire Raj with a firm grasp of the aspects of the causes and effects of the severe wealth gap that exists in India. His thoughtful conclusion looks at possible ways India and the world may react to these global inequalities. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested contemporary Indian history and/ or global economics.

Thank you to NetGalley, Crown Publishing, Tim Duggan Books, and James Crabtree for the advanced copy for review.

Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley.

Katherine Boo’s Behind the Beautiful Forevers is only mentioned briefly in James Crabtree’s excellent look at the super rich of India, The Billionaire Raj. I found this fact interesting because I request the book via Netgalley precisely because I have read and taught Boo’s book. Granted, Crabtree’s book is a study of the extreme upper class so slums really don’t enter into the book. Yet, and Crabtree knows this, it is impossible to read this book, in particularly the parts about buildings with private pools and indoor football pitches, without thinking of those slums were people lack clean water, secure housing, and light.

I’m talking about the Residence Antilia owned by Makesh Ambani. A rather unique house. The fascination with it does also include the fact that it does give one a great a view of the slums. Talk about looking down.

This is not to say that Crabtree’s book is not a must read because it is. Instead of focusing on the soap opera or crime story details of the rich, Crabtree looks at the society. Not only does Crabtree look at the rise of the monied class, but he also examines the work of politics and graft, thus making a necessary read with Boo’s book.
Additionally, it is quite easy to see connections to America’s current political environment. Some of what Crabtree describes is quite easily seen outside of India. It’s just that India juxtaposes the two more starkly. Such images of extreme wealth and the desire to expand and keep it, despite the situations of those around the wealth. It is also about the families that control the wealth and the politics that allows them to flee, or to travel, out of the country to exile. Crabtree also details why the situation continues. His book gives more depth to the reading of Boo.