India: An Epic Journey Across the Subcontinent

In the 13th Century, Marco Polo described India as “a land of wonders,” and his observation is no less true today. India is the world’s largest democracy, a nuclear power, and a rising economic giant-but also the world’s most ancient surviving civilization, with unbroken continuity stretching back into prehistory. It is a land of tremendous spirituality punctuated by terrible religious violence, of vast deserts and Himalayan peaks that disappear into the sky, of remote Mughal forts and jam-packed megacities, and of the world’s most glorious architectural splendors: the Taj Mahal, the Red Fort, and Luyten’s Delhi. An epicenter of trade and a land of extraordinary riches, India has played a prominent role in world history. At the beginning of the 21st century, India has once again become a leading player on the world stage. In India, Michael Wood leads his audience on six eye-opening journeys into the subcontinent, where he uncovers the fabulous sights and sounds, the dazzling achievements, and the dramatic history of the world’s most influential civilization. This sumptuously illustrated book is a magical mix of history and travelogue, and an unforgettable portrait of India-past, present, and future.

From the Buddha and Alexander the Great to Genghis Khan, Akbar the Great and Mahatma Gandhi, an acclaimed historian offers a sumptuously illustrated history of five-thousand years of India

Ravi Shenoy - Library Journal

A companion volume to a BBC documentary series coming to PBS in 2008, this "traveler's eye view" of Indian history provides an excellent introduction to the subject. Author and TV presenter Wood (In Search of England: Journeys into the English Past), a frequent visitor to the subcontinent, traverses "tens of thousands of miles and tens of thousands of years." In his account, discoveries of recent years, e.g., the excavations in Mehrgarh, Pakistan, of a site dating back to 7000 B.C.E., shed new light on Indian history. Artifacts found in Turkmenistan are similar to those used in Vedic rites; a recently uncovered inscription in Afghanistan throws new light on the Kushan kings. The M130 gene of early man is present in the DNA of an entire village in southern India. The book covers most of the major empires (including the Dravidian empires of southern India) and emperors, as well as founders of world religions such as the Buddha. A highly enjoyable book on Indian history, this is recommended for general audiences.

Michael Wood is an acclaimed author and TV presenter. A broadcaster and film-maker of extraordinary range, Wood has over eighty documentary films to his name, including In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great, In Search of the Trojan War, and In Search of Shakespeare. Educated at Oxford, Wood is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society.