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Overview
The history of India is the engrossing story of an ancient civilization, reborn as a modern nation. More a continent than a single nation, India is home to over one-fifth of humanity, yet it remains a mystery to most non-Indians, barely appreciated and poorly understood. Stanley Wolpert'sIndia provides a much-needed, concise overview of Indian history and culture. His new preface brings the book up to date, discussing national elections, the economic effects of the new globalization, and the consequences of joining the nuclear arms race.Synopsis
Praise for previous editions:
"To all of us who delightedly and sometimes repetitively call ourselves Old
India hands, Stanley Wolpert is the acknowledged authority. This book tells why.
Indian history, art, culture, and contemporary politics are here in accurate, wide-ranging, and lucid prose."—John Kenneth Galbraith
"Wolpert understands
India. . . . . Fluent, wide-ranging and often wise, this volume is a useful addition to a shelf of books on
India."—Washington Post Book World
"A superb distillation of a lifetime's learning by UCLA's great historian of
India. Refreshingly concrete and detailed, [and] vibrantly written, Wolpert's overview repeatedly succeeds at explaining a culture that gave us little things like the decimal system, chess, cotton cloth, meditation, and two religions called Buddhism and Hinduism."—Philadelphia
Inquirer
"If one were to read a single book about
India in a lifetime, this should be it."—Library Journal
Library Journal
If one were to read a single book about India in a lifetime, this should be it. India is a grand, sweeping synthesis of Indian civilization embracing its geography, religions, history, and arts and sciences. Using the Ganges River as a thematic symbol for India's timeless civilization, Wolpert threads his way from the Indus Valley to British rule, through the interplay of Muslim, Hindu, and Sikh faiths, to the governments of Nehru and Indira Gandhi. Although academics may quibble over his harsh evaluation of the British Raj or his uncritical treatment of Indira Gandhi's Emergency, Wolpert demonstrates a grasp of those eternal paradoxes of Indian civilization: hunger amongst plenty, gentleness amidst violence, and stability within change. Wolpert's sympathetic and sensitive account of the ancient Sanskrit classics and Indian music, painting, and sculpture embraces the mystery and imagination of a life unknown in the West. Representative of a lifetime of learning, this ranks at the top of its genre for its vision, knowledge, and superb prose. History Book Club selection.-- John F. Riddick, Central Michigan Univ. Lib., Mt. Pleasant