Books like In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India

I'll be frank - each part of the book is factual and correct. Yet, it misses the mark as whole. Reading Mr. Luce's biography, I had expected he is a westerner (for want of a better word) who also understands the spirit of what drives India as a nation. After reading his book, I have realized yet again, that living in India with a mindset of a non-Indian makes you a good factual historian but not someone who can put a finger on India's nerve. Most of his book is spent on the corruption and individual egos of India's political system and very little on what makes the nation tick and continuously grow despite overwhelming challenges. If the reader is a westerner who has either not been to India, or has been to India with a mindset of assuming all things West is correct, they will enjoy this book. Its is completely factual. What is unfortunate however is Mr Luce's choice to focus 80% of the book on all the issues and less than 20% on the positives. The remainder of the book, I found, is unnecessarily full of tongue in cheek jabs of politicians or people of prominence in India - what they said, vs. what he humorously thought. What I liked what Luce's thorough research of all facts. There were many things I learned in terms of facts. What I did not like is his book is titled 'The Rise of Modern India (Despite the gods)' but its more apt to rename it as 'I can't believe the Rise of India'. I can't accuse him of misstating facts - but do point a finger at him for not being even in their selection. A nation does not move ahead if its whole is lesser than the sum of parts. My next book in line is Shashi Tharoor's 'The Elephant, the Tiger and the Cellphone' - another book that talks about the meteoric yet odd rise of India, but from the viewpoint of a person who probably understands India much more than a person outside can. I haven't read it yet, but will surely comment on compared to Mr. Luce's style.