India and Sri Lanka

Children's Literature

Part of a thirteen volume series (other titles include Oceania, France, and Eastern Europe), this book features a generic introduction relating clothing to environment from an anthropological perspective. Beginning with Mark Twain's definition of India as "grandmother of legend, great-grandmother of tradition," an overview chapter on the land is followed by the sequencing of its history into the broad eras of "the Golden Age," early Muslim conquests, the "Moguls" and the British. Sidebars provide information on topics of special interest such as the evolution of the sari, religion, classical dance traditions, the Kashmiri shawl, and more. Some of the sidebars are fascinating, offering, for example, information about decorative embroidery motifs and the significance of certain kinds of jewelry. Others are somewhat superficial, such as the description of burqa, from which the reader might mistakenly deduce that all Muslim women wear it. Still, young readers will find intriguing both the treatment of clothing as an expression of culture, and the insights provided into the clash of cultures around practices of dress and body decoration. An interesting mix of traditions is offered by the inclusion of Sri Lanka with its distinctive clothing, much of it quite different from that of the mainland subcontinent. A glossary, timeline, online sources, a reading list, and an index are included. In addition, specialized words related to clothing are explained within the text. 2003, Amber Books,
— Uma Krishnaswami

School Library Journal

Gr 4-8-These concise compendia of East and South Asian history and textile culture will be well received among students laboring over detailed country profile and/or costume reports. Each book covers the history of dress up to approximately 1900, explaining in detail the garments and accessories of the lowest through the highest classes. The writing style is crisp and engaging, attending to historical accuracy while keeping an eye out for topics with high appeal. Frequent sidebars highlight concepts such as foot binding, undergarments, and the costumes associated with Hindu gods and goddesses. The texts include many transliterated technical terms and their definitions. These books provide a deeper historical background and tighter focus on garments than books in the "Eyewitness" series (DK) on ancient civilizations. The full-color illustrations are beautiful, but, strangely, there are no photographs of extant textiles. The pictures are not attributed, but look like skillful, hand-drawn reproductions of artworks from the periods they represent. Neither book includes a pronunciation guide and in Hammond's title Chinese words are not uniformly romanized. Additionally, each country section ends rather abruptly. Failings aside, these are useful titles and should complement material from the "Enchantment of the World" series (Children's) nicely.-Sophie R. Brookover, Mount Laurel Library, NJ Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.