India, May 9 -- The latest assembly polls in Assam show that political messaging on "outsiders and infiltrators" resonates strongly with the electorate in the state. The history of the state after Independence and the years of the Assam movement explain why. Against this backdrop, we recommend historian Arupjyoti Saikia's The Quest for Modern Assam: A History. Even though the book covers the six decades of Assam's culture, politics and economy between 1942 and 2000, it helps us understand the state's politics in the recent years. The book examines Assam's lived history of Independence, especially Partition and the gamut of consequences for the state's population that came with it. It details the rise of identity-centred politics and how community anxieties and fears about marginalisation have defined the contours of politics in the state....