"Jaffrelot and Anil present a comprehensive account of the suspension of formal democracy in India. A sharp analytical assessment of the Emergency, it is bold, original and well-researched. This promises to be a landmark work in Indian politics."
— Uday Chandra, Assistant Professor of Government, Georgetown University, Qatar

"The best and most wide-ranging account of the Emergency in India. It is a ground-breaking contribution to the study of Indian politics and political history. Widely and deeply researched, comprehensive and analytical."
—Srinath Raghavan, Professor of International Relations and History, Ashoka University, and Senior Fellow, Carnegie India

"Jaffrelot and Anil's meticulously researched account of India's brief period of authoritarian Emergency rule in 1975-77 rightly approaches it not as an aberration, but as a product of the ambiguity of Indian democracy. Engaging and authoritative—it could prove definitive."
—James Chiriyankandath, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Commonwealth Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London

"Jaffrelot and Anil bring a rare depth of scholarship and nuanced analysis to their remarkable account of India's Emergency. Drawing upon an unparalleled range of sources, this book is indispensable for anyone seeking to understand global authoritarianism and Indian politics today."
—Rochana Bajpai, Associate Professor in Politics, SOAS University of London

"The best and most comprehensive book on the Emergency."
—Business Standard India

"To be commended, not just for [its] extensive research and intellectual sweep, but because of [its] contemporary relevance... Indeed, [its] studied analysis that the world's largest democracy is fundamentally vulnerable to despotic rule will no doubt provide fresh insights on the current Indian political landscape, which many believe is under an undeclared Emergency."
—India Today

"This book rightly claims that this specific study of Emergency helps looking at Indian history through different lenses where the subordinated and oppressed citizenry are always at loggerheads. 'This is the history of a constant struggle between the people on the one hand and the Republic's rulers on the other.' Indeed, this excellent volume does live up to this claim very well."
—The Book Review

"Offers a meticulous and convincing analysis of the Emergency, but also does more than that. The suspension of democracy in India is used as a lens to understand the maladies and weaknesses of India's democracy and to remind the contemporary reader that the brief authoritarian interlude of the 1970s might not have been India's first and last dictatorship."
—The Bookshelf

"A timely reminder that India's hard-won democratic ethos cannot be taken for granted. ... [India's First Dictatorship] is a compelling account, which displays an extraordinary grasp of the political milieu that led to the state of emergency and provides a level of detail about its consequences never before attempted."
—Foreign Policy