India: A History

by John Keay

Overview

The first single-volume history of India since the 1950s, combining narrative pace and skill with social, economic and cultural analysis. Five millennia of the sub-continent’s history are interpreted by one of our finest writers on India and the Far East. This edition does not include illustrations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780007382392
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	07/25/2013
Sold by:	HarperCollins Publishers
Format:	eBook
Pages:	608
Sales rank:	552,997
File size:	44 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

Editorial Reviews

Sweeping from the ancient brick cities of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, built in the Indus Valley around 2000 B.C., to modern India's urban middle class armed with computers and cell phones, this erudite, panoramic history captures the flow of Indian civilization. No apologist for Britannia's rule, British historian Keay (Into India, etc.) gives the lie to comforting fantasies of the British Raj as the benevolently run "Jewel in the Crown." For most Indians, "Pax Britannica meant mainly `Tax Britannica,'" he writes. Nor was British-ruled India peaceful, he adds, because India became a launch pad for British wars against Indonesia, Nepal and Burma, for the invasion of Afghanistan and the quashing of native revolts--often with the coerced participation of Indian troops. Finally, the Raj was "Axe Britannica," beginning the extensive deforestation of the subcontinent and the systematic suppression of its rural economy. Keay challenges much conventional scholarship in a dispassionate chronicle based largely on a fresh look at primary sources. For instance, the Mauryan emperor Ashoka, enthroned in 268 B.C., is revered because he preached tolerance and renounced armed violence, yet Keay notes that, contrary to popular opinion, Ashoka never specifically abjured warfare nor did he disband his army. Keay concludes this illustrated history by astutely surveying India's erratic progress in the half-century since independence, marked by communal violence, resurgence of regional interests and the rise of Hindu nationalism. This careful study serves up a banquet for connoisseurs and serious students of India. (Mar.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

India's sprawling history in one volume, with 60 maps, tables, and charts to boot. From a noted historian of Southeast Asia, this is touted as the first single-volume study in over 20 years. Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

...an engrossing, edifying experience. It's also a visual delight, with stunning photos of ruins, shrines, palaces, sculptures, and paintings, along with some 40-odd maps and half as many charts and tables...India: A History is well worth our attention.
—Yoga Journal

Rosen