Book excerpt: In 1974 India exploded an atomic device. In May 1998 the new BJP Government exploded several more, encountering in the process domestic plaudits but international condemnation and a nuclear arms race in South Asia. This book is the first serious historical account of the development of nuclear power in India and of how the bomb came to be made. The author questions orthodox interpretations implying that it was a product of the Indo-Pakistani conflict. Instead, he suggests that the explosions had nothing to do with national security as conventionally understood. Instead he demonstrates the linkages that existed between the two apparently separate discourses of national security and national development, and explores their common underlying basis in postcolonial states. The result is a remarkable book that breaks new ground in integrating comparative politics, international relations and cultural studies.