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India: A Short History
India’s unfolding story, from the ancient Hindu dynasties to the coming of Islam, from the Mughal Empire to the present day India has always been a land of great contradictions. To Alexander the Great, the country was a place of clever naked philosophers and massive armies mounted on elephants – which eventually forced his army to retreat. To ancient Rome, it was a source of luxuries, mainly spices and textiles, paid for in gold―hence the enormous numbers of Roman gold coins excavated in India. At the height of the Mughal empire in 1700, India boasted 24 percent of the world economy―a share virtually equal to Europe’s 25 percent. But then its economy declined. Colonial India was known for its extremes of wealth and poverty, epitomized by the Taj Mahal and famines, maharajas and untouchables, and also for its many-armed Hindu gods and Buddhist philosophy, Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore.
A Short History places as much emphasis on individuals, ideas and cultures as on the rise and fall of kingdoms, political parties and economies. Anyone curious about a great civilization, and its future, will find this an ideal introduction, at times controversial, written by an author who has been strongly engaged with India for more than three decades. 12 illustrations in black and white
A Short History places as much emphasis on individuals, ideas and cultures as on the rise and fall of kingdoms, political parties and economies. Anyone curious about a great civilization, and its future, will find this an ideal introduction, at times controversial, written by an author who has been strongly engaged with India for more than three decades. 12 illustrations in black and white
248 pages, Hardcover
First published March 10, 2014
41 people are currently reading
613 people want to read
About the author
Andrew Robinson
462 books76 followers(William) Andrew Coulthard Robinson is a British author and former newspaper editor.
Andrew Robinson was educated at the Dragon School, Eton College where he was a King's Scholar, University College, Oxford where he read Chemistry and finally the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. He is the son of Neville Robinson, an Oxford physicist.
Robinson first visited India in 1975 and has been a devotee of the country's culture ever since, in particular the Bengali poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore and the Bengali film director Satyajit Ray. He has authored many books and articles. Until 2006, he was the Literary Editor of the Times Higher Education Supplement<?em>. He has also been a Visiting Fellow at Wolfson College, Cambridge.
He is based in London and is now a full-time writer.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.
Andrew Robinson was educated at the Dragon School, Eton College where he was a King's Scholar, University College, Oxford where he read Chemistry and finally the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. He is the son of Neville Robinson, an Oxford physicist.
Robinson first visited India in 1975 and has been a devotee of the country's culture ever since, in particular the Bengali poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore and the Bengali film director Satyajit Ray. He has authored many books and articles. Until 2006, he was the Literary Editor of the Times Higher Education Supplement<?em>. He has also been a Visiting Fellow at Wolfson College, Cambridge.
He is based in London and is now a full-time writer.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
March 7, 2021
The content covered is useful and gives a good basis for understanding key events in India’s history. However, the manner in which these subjects are approached is biased, shallow and unanalytical. I would not recommend this book, but I enjoyed learning more about this fascinating country’s history.
May 13, 2014
I was fortunate enough to receive an edition of this book through the first reads program. And while the title is dead on about it being a short history of India (the book is less than 180 pages if you exclude the introduction and the two page pictures that begin each chapter), the book was a thoughtful an enjoyable read. The author does a tremendous job of discussing disputed aspects of Indian history as he often mentions the reasoning behind each side as well as their faults while also presenting which side he feels is most valid. Due to its length, the book would be pretty poor for any serious scholarly research. However, I would highly recommend this book as an introduction to Indian history or as a quick read before any travels to India.
January 14, 2018
For a "short history", Robinson spends an inordinate amount of text and specificity on fairly tangential items (the films of Satyajit Ray, or the correspondences between Gandhi and Tagore, the reasons Indians don't care about history). Other shortcomings include a lack of citations, supporting images or historical maps, and statement of opinion as fact ("I would add my own, objective, suggestion..."). While Robinson does eventually get around to generally describing each historical period of history of the Indian subcontinent, there is very little artistry in his historical writing. What is, perhaps, most useful in this book is the lengthy Further Reading section.
April 27, 2022
Firstly I don't think Andrew Robinson is qualified in writing this book.
He seems to be genial in agreeing with his own point of view.
I think this is something most British seem inclined to do.
The British Ravaged And Plundered India.
Even Today Britian ate and built themselves up on the Blood and sweat of other MORE Intelligent Countries,more Industrious people.
The Queen sits on a stolen throne,wears Diamonds and Jewels of Indian Maharajas , including the Fabled Kohinoor Diamond.
They are nothing but common thiefs ,who take pride in drinking Chai !!
We have nothing to thank them for except for building railways and roads to Interior India to spread their horror and enslave more people.
The very ignominious language of English,is something that virtually EVERY Indian speaks far better than most "Britisher's"
today.
I was once complimented by a British Teacher on board a flight, saying the Indian Newspaper has far less grammatical errors than the British paper, and complimented me on my outstanding English diction.
Mr Robinson is under a sublime fallacy that British somehow did good for India??
Really Mr Robinson,it would be a different story if it was your family standing in front of a British gun ,that killed your family mercilessly !!! I don't think you would be inclined to have a more tolerant viewpoint?
What say?
He seems to be genial in agreeing with his own point of view.
I think this is something most British seem inclined to do.
The British Ravaged And Plundered India.
Even Today Britian ate and built themselves up on the Blood and sweat of other MORE Intelligent Countries,more Industrious people.
The Queen sits on a stolen throne,wears Diamonds and Jewels of Indian Maharajas , including the Fabled Kohinoor Diamond.
They are nothing but common thiefs ,who take pride in drinking Chai !!
We have nothing to thank them for except for building railways and roads to Interior India to spread their horror and enslave more people.
The very ignominious language of English,is something that virtually EVERY Indian speaks far better than most "Britisher's"
today.
I was once complimented by a British Teacher on board a flight, saying the Indian Newspaper has far less grammatical errors than the British paper, and complimented me on my outstanding English diction.
Mr Robinson is under a sublime fallacy that British somehow did good for India??
Really Mr Robinson,it would be a different story if it was your family standing in front of a British gun ,that killed your family mercilessly !!! I don't think you would be inclined to have a more tolerant viewpoint?
What say?
June 23, 2021
The author should have named this book India: A Short Historiography. Its refreshing this book isnt written in the usual history book format, though it might come as an unwelcome surprise for some readers.
The first 4 out of 10 chapters excessively and unnecessarily dealt with the Mahabharata and Ramayana. Especially chapter 4 whose title was “Hindu dynasties” only had the last 2 pages talking about the dynasties itself. He even had time to talk about Japanese filmaker Akira Kurosawa, go figure.
The chapters on the Coming of Islam, Mughal period and post-independence India were where the book was at its best. He doesnt beat around the bush and expands on important political developments within the period in a holistic and concise approach (as its a very short book).
You wont find either a hippie-esque love of all things India nor a right-wing diatribe against the “natives” in the author. He’s fair. I suprised myself feeling that I liked this book much more than I taught I would.
The first 4 out of 10 chapters excessively and unnecessarily dealt with the Mahabharata and Ramayana. Especially chapter 4 whose title was “Hindu dynasties” only had the last 2 pages talking about the dynasties itself. He even had time to talk about Japanese filmaker Akira Kurosawa, go figure.
The chapters on the Coming of Islam, Mughal period and post-independence India were where the book was at its best. He doesnt beat around the bush and expands on important political developments within the period in a holistic and concise approach (as its a very short book).
You wont find either a hippie-esque love of all things India nor a right-wing diatribe against the “natives” in the author. He’s fair. I suprised myself feeling that I liked this book much more than I taught I would.
February 1, 2023
This was an enjoyable read about Indian history from more of a cultural and people perspective rather than economic or military. However, it does definitely live up to its name of being short, book raised more questions than answers (now I really want to know what happened to Buddhism, about communal tensions with the founding of Sikhism etc.), so I wouldnt recommend it if youre only going to read one book about India, but it can be a nice first book
September 20, 2023
This ended up being a pretty frustrating book for me. I really liked that it was short (I just finished a dense book on the Mughals in India), but the brevity of the book was damaging in ways that I think were unnecessary.
Most of the chapters cover a large time period in about 20-25 pages. I think this is doable for the author's goal of a really quick recap, but it needs to be hyper focused on providing the needed details. This is where the book fails. I'll continue using the Mughal section as an example since I just read a long detailed book on that time period. If I hadn't read that, I think I would have really struggled to grasp what occurred in that era. I expected the chapter on the Mughals to be more like this: A couple of paragraphs on how India was before they arrived. Then Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb. Then a page or two on why the empire collapsed. The book seems like it would be much better as a refresher on Indian history instead of a quick introduction to it. The author seemed to assume a certain level of knowledge on topics and people that I didn't possess. It would be like if there were a chapter on American Independence and the author just had a line about some discussion between Benjamin Franklin and John Adams. If you come in without prior knowledge, you'd be in the dark about what is happening.
I disagree with others for the most part on this book being incredibly biased. I mostly thought it seemed pretty fair. Some people were outraged in their reviews that Robinson brought up how absurd it is (my words not his) that Gandhi thought the Jews should resist the Nazi's non-violently and couldn't grasp the difference between Nazi Germany and the British. The truth is that if Gandhi had done anything he did in India in Germany or Russia instead, he would've disappeared along with all of his followers. You can still think what the English did was wrong if you want, but it is idiotic to act like they are comparable. There were also complaints that Robinson "ignored" the famine. It surprised me at first as well, but he almost completely ignored Churchill and many other things.
Contrary to most other readers, I thought Robinson pointed out racism more than was warranted. One example is when Robinson indicates how the British made a point to lessen their reliance on Indian military personnel after the mutiny of 1857. He follows this up a page or two later making the claim that there being very few Indians in command positions post mutiny is proof of how racist the British were. Another example is how the English were racist reacted to the mutiny and mass-murder of women/children at Cawnpore and elsewhere. I don't know why it's an atrocity when the British civilians were murdered but a racial atrocity when the Indian's were killed during the battle of Delhi. I found it interesting that Robinson says there are many letters to choose from that depict the fall of Delhi and the killing, but he only gives an excerpt from one and it happens to be the exact same one from another book that I am reading. I don't doubt that there was unnecessary slaughter of innocents, but the "racist" killings range from a couple hundred (which doesn't seem necessarily extreme for a war) to a couple hundred thousand (which the author agrees in absurd).
In the end, I enjoyed the areas that I thought would least interest me the most. He delves into languages pretty early on that I would usually plod through, but he made it very interesting. The areas I though I would be most interested in (Ancient history, not his fault there isn't much known. Mughals through WWII), I thought were his poorest.
Most of the chapters cover a large time period in about 20-25 pages. I think this is doable for the author's goal of a really quick recap, but it needs to be hyper focused on providing the needed details. This is where the book fails. I'll continue using the Mughal section as an example since I just read a long detailed book on that time period. If I hadn't read that, I think I would have really struggled to grasp what occurred in that era. I expected the chapter on the Mughals to be more like this: A couple of paragraphs on how India was before they arrived. Then Babur, Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, Aurangzeb. Then a page or two on why the empire collapsed. The book seems like it would be much better as a refresher on Indian history instead of a quick introduction to it. The author seemed to assume a certain level of knowledge on topics and people that I didn't possess. It would be like if there were a chapter on American Independence and the author just had a line about some discussion between Benjamin Franklin and John Adams. If you come in without prior knowledge, you'd be in the dark about what is happening.
I disagree with others for the most part on this book being incredibly biased. I mostly thought it seemed pretty fair. Some people were outraged in their reviews that Robinson brought up how absurd it is (my words not his) that Gandhi thought the Jews should resist the Nazi's non-violently and couldn't grasp the difference between Nazi Germany and the British. The truth is that if Gandhi had done anything he did in India in Germany or Russia instead, he would've disappeared along with all of his followers. You can still think what the English did was wrong if you want, but it is idiotic to act like they are comparable. There were also complaints that Robinson "ignored" the famine. It surprised me at first as well, but he almost completely ignored Churchill and many other things.
Contrary to most other readers, I thought Robinson pointed out racism more than was warranted. One example is when Robinson indicates how the British made a point to lessen their reliance on Indian military personnel after the mutiny of 1857. He follows this up a page or two later making the claim that there being very few Indians in command positions post mutiny is proof of how racist the British were. Another example is how the English were racist reacted to the mutiny and mass-murder of women/children at Cawnpore and elsewhere. I don't know why it's an atrocity when the British civilians were murdered but a racial atrocity when the Indian's were killed during the battle of Delhi. I found it interesting that Robinson says there are many letters to choose from that depict the fall of Delhi and the killing, but he only gives an excerpt from one and it happens to be the exact same one from another book that I am reading. I don't doubt that there was unnecessary slaughter of innocents, but the "racist" killings range from a couple hundred (which doesn't seem necessarily extreme for a war) to a couple hundred thousand (which the author agrees in absurd).
In the end, I enjoyed the areas that I thought would least interest me the most. He delves into languages pretty early on that I would usually plod through, but he made it very interesting. The areas I though I would be most interested in (Ancient history, not his fault there isn't much known. Mughals through WWII), I thought were his poorest.
February 23, 2020
There are quite a few apparent contradictions in the book right in the introduction part to start with. Found it highly opinionated rather than fact-based though ‘facts’ are presented albeit not concluded well. It does talk about missing and often contradictory pieces in Indian history yet it inclines towards conclusions rather than leaving it an open-ended and yet an unchartered territory. At places it appears to biased towards the Indians as a whole and exhibits superficial understanding based just on the reading of Vedas and then ignoring later commentaries and clarifications and practices detailed in Upanishads and Puranas. Reading between the lines it seems to glorify the British Imperialism when discussing Gandhi and Nehru and if I may ignores the cultural tendency of traditional Indians to converse metaphorically. With all its short comings it is still a good read albeit I am very critical of this.
June 12, 2021
I picked this up at a thrift store out of curiosity. I have a very limited knowledge of India and its history and I am a curious person so I took it as an opportunity to fill in some gaps. I enjoy Bollywood movies, love Tagore's poetry, admire Ramanujans genius, and am horrified by Churchill's genocide of the Indian people during WW2. That is pretty much the limit of my knowledge.
This book is basically what it says on the tin. It is Indian history from the stone age to modern day condensed into about 200 pages. It touches on major events that still affect modern day culture and politics. So far so good.
Now my biggest issue with this book is the authors credibility. I first noticed the issue when there were no numbered citations in the text. In the introduction the author criticizes Ghandi for comparing the British to Hitler since the British are obviously gentler and more civilized- see above where I mention Churchhills genocide. I found several other instances of bias in the text especially when talking about British imperialism. So it was "Indian terrorism" that lead to British repression post 1857? Cool story bro.
I think this book has good information, but the author doesn't give me anyway to verify what he tells me and his bias had me suspicious of everything he wrote in this book. At the very least he does provide a list of recommended reading at the end of the book so I may check out some of those texts.
This book is basically what it says on the tin. It is Indian history from the stone age to modern day condensed into about 200 pages. It touches on major events that still affect modern day culture and politics. So far so good.
Now my biggest issue with this book is the authors credibility. I first noticed the issue when there were no numbered citations in the text. In the introduction the author criticizes Ghandi for comparing the British to Hitler since the British are obviously gentler and more civilized- see above where I mention Churchhills genocide. I found several other instances of bias in the text especially when talking about British imperialism. So it was "Indian terrorism" that lead to British repression post 1857? Cool story bro.
I think this book has good information, but the author doesn't give me anyway to verify what he tells me and his bias had me suspicious of everything he wrote in this book. At the very least he does provide a list of recommended reading at the end of the book so I may check out some of those texts.
October 12, 2025
Considering how short the book is, this was a bit difficult for me to get through.
The author does go through periods of history in India, however as other reviewers mention the content is extremely superficial and provides barely a glimpse of the topics the individual chapters supposedly cover. I'd be impressed if you walked away from this with any real understanding of the indus valley civilization, the Hindu and Muslim dynasties, or even the imposition of the British Raj. The content within each chapter jumps around time periods and dynasties constantly, moving backward and forward in time with each paragraph. It would have made far more sense if each chapter's content followed a linear timeline, but that's not the case here.
The book is also heavily influenced by the authors biases and opinions, to a painful degree. All historical books are colored by some degree by the authors that write them, but Robinson constantly imposes his own opinion of historical and modern India's successes and faults, and it's really obvious those opinions are colored by his background and separation from the culture. That's not to say that some (emphasis on SOME) of his opinions aren't valid, but I didn't get this book because I thought it was an editorial or opinion piece, I wanted a history lesson.
I'm not really sure I would recommend this book to anyone, if you want to understand the history of India there are far better books, both short and long with more deeply rooted content. I'm not really sure Robinson has any business writing a history book and I'm glad it wound up as short as it is.
The author does go through periods of history in India, however as other reviewers mention the content is extremely superficial and provides barely a glimpse of the topics the individual chapters supposedly cover. I'd be impressed if you walked away from this with any real understanding of the indus valley civilization, the Hindu and Muslim dynasties, or even the imposition of the British Raj. The content within each chapter jumps around time periods and dynasties constantly, moving backward and forward in time with each paragraph. It would have made far more sense if each chapter's content followed a linear timeline, but that's not the case here.
The book is also heavily influenced by the authors biases and opinions, to a painful degree. All historical books are colored by some degree by the authors that write them, but Robinson constantly imposes his own opinion of historical and modern India's successes and faults, and it's really obvious those opinions are colored by his background and separation from the culture. That's not to say that some (emphasis on SOME) of his opinions aren't valid, but I didn't get this book because I thought it was an editorial or opinion piece, I wanted a history lesson.
I'm not really sure I would recommend this book to anyone, if you want to understand the history of India there are far better books, both short and long with more deeply rooted content. I'm not really sure Robinson has any business writing a history book and I'm glad it wound up as short as it is.
February 15, 2020
Robinson concludes his postscript, “ as in so many periods of its long history, India of the early 21st-century is a land of unique, sometimes puzzling and frequently disturbing contradictions”. I have begun to really dig into my study on India because our trip is fast approaching (assuming our visas ever arrive). With each book I’m finding those contradictions make understanding India and its history a difficult task. Robinson does a good job of laying out the long history of India, but the translations between each epoch are described murkily, at best. I’m not convinced this Robinson’s fault. It seems India’s history is murkily recorded, at best. I liked the parts on the Company Rule, Crown rule and Independence the best because they are the clearest. But it is the earlier periods that I am most drawn to. I’m especially fascinated by the period of the Delhi sultanate and I haven’t quite come to the book yet that has made it accessible to me. The search must continue.
October 23, 2017
I've been wanting to read a history book on India for some time now and when I saw this one at the British Library I thought it would be a good place to start.
This book is good -- it covers an enormous amount of time in a small amount of pages, and for the most part it does it well. I left with a general and overarching understanding of India's complex history, which was ultimately my goal. However, I would have liked was more detail -- or maybe more explanation. My knowledge of India is full of gaps, so when the author mentioned names without giving any background information I was often left confused and looking up info in other sources. The author seemed to be working under the assumption that I knew all the key players, when I assuredly did not. However, I also get that this is a short history and so perhaps this info was left out due to page number constraints.
This book is good -- it covers an enormous amount of time in a small amount of pages, and for the most part it does it well. I left with a general and overarching understanding of India's complex history, which was ultimately my goal. However, I would have liked was more detail -- or maybe more explanation. My knowledge of India is full of gaps, so when the author mentioned names without giving any background information I was often left confused and looking up info in other sources. The author seemed to be working under the assumption that I knew all the key players, when I assuredly did not. However, I also get that this is a short history and so perhaps this info was left out due to page number constraints.
July 21, 2024
Very poor book, author doesn't possess beyond a surface level knowledge of the topic and frequently conflates the nation state of India with the entire subcontinent of South Asia, using the term "India" to refer to one or the other at different times without clarifying which is intended. Author is apparently also unaware that Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka are different countries and incorrectly attributes all of their histories to "India". Indeed according to this cognitively challenged author, the Buddha was from India not Nepal and Persians are Arabs. Terrible book and should not be purchased by anyone who takes historical accuracy seriously.
February 8, 2021
It is a very opinionated account of events rather than fact based. The author spends exorbitant amount of time decrying Hindu nationalists and their POV rather than focusing on narrating the history. The title and the description pointed more towards a historical timeline of events but it turned out to be very much like watching paid media. Are there any books that leave it to the reader to form their own opinion? Or if there has to be opinion, at least do not indulge in mud slinging on the right or the left leaning thinkers but just state their opinion?
December 21, 2021
This book is neither here nor there, its a bit everywhere. I think the author tries to describe the history of India in a succinct and clear way, but through the entire book I was questioning what I was actually reading about. The text constantly flits between past and present, and the content of the book feels more like personal opinion than historical context. Also, I feel like the author might have a slight man-crush on Satyajit Ray.
Overall, some useful and interesting pieces of information, but not a very well structured book to read.
Overall, some useful and interesting pieces of information, but not a very well structured book to read.
February 2, 2023
I was expecting a proper chronology of events and explanation but the author only chooses a few events to focus on. For example, there was very little information on the Hindu dynasties and the Delhi Sultanate but there was comparatively more discussion on Satyajit Ray and his films. In some places, it looks like the opinion of the author is masqueraded as facts. He also talks about people and events without a proper introduction. I feel it was still worth my time since there were some interesting anecdotes that I had not come across before.
August 20, 2020
The book explains the history of India from the origins of Indus valley civilisation, the Aryan migration, origins of Hinduism, Buddhism and subsequent Hindu dynasties, all the way to the Mughal empire, British rule, freedom movement and the post independence India. Concise but well written and rightfully supplemented with suggested further reading list in the end for those who want to explore the topic further.
June 20, 2023
Sometimes you really click with an author and reading feels more like a conversation than a lecture - you follow every major point and minor digression with eager excitement as a story important to both of you unfolds.
That did not happen for me and Andrew Robinson, but he still did a competent job with his zoomed out history of India's major eras. I know a lot more than I did before, but I wasn't drowned by expert-level minutia which is exactly what I wanted.
That did not happen for me and Andrew Robinson, but he still did a competent job with his zoomed out history of India's major eras. I know a lot more than I did before, but I wasn't drowned by expert-level minutia which is exactly what I wanted.
July 4, 2023
Pretty good for a 200-page blast through 5000 years of history. I found it interesting and easy to follow, as someone with only an extremely vague prior familiarity with the events. Some readers have criticized the author's tendency to analyze and reflect on the history including sharing some of his own opinions, but for me personally this was mostly a positive. An extensive list of recommended reading at the end is a good segue into further learning about specific topics from the book.
February 12, 2024
I thought this would be shorter and a bit more compelling—although it's an impressive feat to fit such an extensive and varied history into 250 pages at all. I should probably have read the book before , rather than during, my first trip to India, as there were times chapters did help contextualize (sometimes after the fact) some otherwise inscrutable elements of various presentations.
June 13, 2025
Never for a moment did I find the book dull. Almost all major chapters of Indian history are covered, albeit in short as the name of the book suggests. The book is a good refresher if you are already well versed in Indian history or a great starter book before getting into more details. The author seems to have a condescending attitude in general towards the country and its culture which is prevalent throughout the book.
December 23, 2025
Probably worth selling in days of Kipling (who it romantically quotes) , not now. Now this book belongs in the trash with Kipling’s white mans burden.
eg ‘the Indian kingdoms after Harsha return to anonymity’ ; the author clearly didn’t bother to read a book beyond India history for dummies.
That’s like saying not much happened in England after the Norman conquest till EIC.
Misinformation and nonsense, food for pseudointellectual thought.
eg ‘the Indian kingdoms after Harsha return to anonymity’ ; the author clearly didn’t bother to read a book beyond India history for dummies.
That’s like saying not much happened in England after the Norman conquest till EIC.
Misinformation and nonsense, food for pseudointellectual thought.
October 26, 2019
I’ve researched India through tertiary studies but it’s been years and I wanted a recap before visiting again. Robinson’s work on India, a country whose history often elicits controversial and biased opinions, was at once enjoyable, temperate and interesting. Covers off on a huge swathe in history weaving out the key points into a modest 300 pages. Loved it.
May 29, 2023
This book was a good starting point for learning more about Indian history, as I knew virtually nothing prior to reading it. It took about half of the book to get through some pretty irrelevant tangents, especially about ancient India, but after that it made me eager to go more in depth on several different periods of Indian history.
August 19, 2017
This book is a basic introduction to history of India - exactly what the title says. Great bonus is a further reading list and nice overview of reasons and challenges in research of the earliest history.
March 1, 2020
Easy to read, accessible. Good introduction/refresher to the rich history of India, from the early Indus civilisation to recent history. Covers the early Hindu empires, the Mughals, the British and independence.
May 18, 2022
Chronologically, the book provides a good perspective. However, it fails to provide a deeper understanding of what has shaped India.
To blatantly quote known racists such as Rudyard Kipling, Macaulay and Clive shows how ill-aligned the perspective is.
To blatantly quote known racists such as Rudyard Kipling, Macaulay and Clive shows how ill-aligned the perspective is.
August 30, 2022
This is exactly what it says, a short history with each chapter dealing with an entire period of history. It also doesn't look at anything really beyond Independence, so you don't get any real idea about modern India. there is a decent book list however, and it is an accessible, easy read. It just left me feeling that I should have picked a better introduction.
August 27, 2017
Would have liked more fact and less opinion, especially in the latter part of the book.
December 17, 2019
Riddled with bias.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews