Shashi Tharoor's India: From Midnight to the Millennium is a portrait of one of the world's most important and interesting countries - its politics, its mentality, and its cultural riches. But it is also an eloquent argument for the importance of India to the future of America and the industrialized world.

Shashi Tharoor shows that India, is it prepares to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of its political independence, stands at the intersection of the most significant questions facing the world at the end of the twentieth century. If democracy leads to inefficient political infighting, should it be sacrificed in the interest of economic well-being? Should the developing world opt for bread over freedom? Does religious fundamentalism provide a way for Third World countries to assert their identity in the face of Western hegemony, or is there a case for pluralism and diversity amid cultural and religious traditions?

Does the entry of Western consumer goods threaten a country's economic self-sufficiency, and is protectionism the only guarantee of independence? The answers to such questions will determine what kind of world the next century will bring. And since Indians will soon account for a sixth of the world's population, their choices will resonate throughout the globe.