India

I am reading this book avidly as I have both personal and professional reasons to care about India. So do you. So far it has been very good... I am learning a lot and am having much of what I learned confirmed by Indian friends. The author has a real affection for India but is not blinded by it. And... it reads well.

I am reading this book now and will update this review as necessary. The author is an excellent writer and clearly cares very much about India and the Indian people. Thus far, this book has encouraged my interest in this subject and I look forward to finishing the book. Excellent.

having been to India before, Wolpert's book helped to give me a better prospective of the country. Wolpert gives information into the important aspects of the country like the environment, early history, religion and philosophy, society, arts/sciences, and polity/foreign policy. The book is easy to read and gives good information into aspects of india like the caste system, foreign policy after independence (its 5-year plans, Kashmir...) and India under British rule.

Those of you looking for FAIR reviews of this book should ignore any criticism related to Wolpert's characterization of Aryan influence in India. Unfortunately, some people choose to believe some random coincidences rather than scientific facts. As of now, scientific evidence shows that the Aryans decended from Causia, travelled through Persia, and then ended up in India. Although facts are still being uncovered (due to recent excavations of the Harappian civilization), right now Wolpert is explaining the current view of most historians (only recent evidence has pointed to the contrary, and most of it is unsubstantiated). It has NOTHING to do whether the historian is Hindu or not (even most Indian historians accept the Aryans coming from Caucasia). Wolpert has dedicated his whole life to the study of India, and has shown his knowledge and expertise in his other great work, "A New History of India". Rather, one need look only at Wolpert's excellent storytelling abilities and strong writing skills to understand this book. The book is very well done. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to get an introduction of India. Of course, this is only a introductory book, and should be taken as such.