Temptations of the West: How to Be Modern in India, Pakistan, Tibet, and Beyond

by Pankaj Mishra

A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice

In Temptations of the West, Pankaj Mishra brings literary authority and political insight to bear on journeys through South Asia, and considers the pressures of Western-style modernity and prosperity on the region. Beginning in India, his examination takes him from the realities of Bollywood stardom, to the history of Jawaharlal Nehru's post-independence politics. In Kashmir, he reports on the brutal massacre of thirty-five Sikhs, and its intriguing local aftermath. And in Tibet, he exquisitely parses the situation whereby the atheist Chinese government has discovered that Tibetan Buddhism can be "packaged and sold to tourists." Temptations of the West is essential reading about a conflicted and rapidly changing region of the world.

Genres: India, Nonfiction, Politics, Travel, Pakistan, History, Sociology

336 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2006

About the author

Pankaj Mishra (पंकज मिश्रा) is a noted Indian essayist and novelist.

In 1992, Mishra moved to Mashobra, a Himalayan village, where he began to contribute literary essays and reviews to The Indian Review of Books, The India Magazine, and the newspaper The Pioneer. His first book, Butter Chicken in Ludhiana: Travels in Small Town India (1995), was a travelogue that described the social and cultural changes in India in the context of globalization. His novel The Romantics (2000), an ironic tale of people longing for fulfillment in cultures other than their own, was published in 11 European languages and won the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum award for first fiction. His book An End to Suffering: The Buddha in the World (2004) mixes memoir, history, and philosophy while attempting to explore the Buddha's relevance to contemporary times. Temptations of the West: How to be Modern in India, Pakistan and Beyond (2006), describes Mishra's travels through Kashmir, Bollywood, Afghanistan, Tibet, Nepal, and other parts of South and Central Asia.

Reviews

[Selva · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first read of 2020 turned out to be an interesting one. I don't know why it is titled Temptations of the west: How to be modern in India, Pakistan and beyond. while buying, I just thought it was a travelogue. But anyway, the author says nothing related to the title except he covers in his travels Kashmir, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal and Tibet and instead of talking about places and cuisine and other trivia like most travelogues, he talks about geo-political issues that shaped all these places in the last one century or so. I would recommend this book just for his discussion of the Kashmir conflict which I badly wanted to know the way this book made me did. It kind of confirms whatever Arundhati Roy says in The Ministry of utmost happiness. The coverage of Afghanistan conflict is equally good but the chain of events or the circle of violence that made a ruin of that country would leave your head spinning. After reading that, I was happy that I was in India and happy for whatever I have. I didn't care much for Nepal and Tibet though they are short chapters tugged at the end and by which time I was tired of all the bloodshed and violence. I would've immensely preferred had he instead chosen to cover Sri Lanka. The book came out in 2007 and the civil war was still on at that time. He had covered some Bollywood too, I don't know for what reason, maybe for better sales or in an effort to keep it a bit light. I didn't mind it and it was mildly funny.
An interesting book if you are interested in the mentioned things and not mislead by the title.

[Rajesh Kurup · Rating 3 out of 5]

My feelings on "Temptations of the West" are very mixed. To start, the book has little do with the title, or subtitle "How to be Modern.." Mishra writes mainly of the history of the subcontinent rather than its future. His journalistic tendencies come out a lot throughout the book. Each chapter reads more like distinct articles rather than as chapters of a single unified book. However, whether they are distinct articles or unifying chapters, his editor could have been stepped in more. Particularly in the chapters on Kashmir and Pakistan, he really could have wrapped his points better. There was always another episode or encounter that got in the way of the larger narrative.

On the positive, Mishra get his content spot on. I will start with Kashmir. As a secular Hindu Indian American, I have never understood why India and Pakistan have pushed the world to the brink of nuclear war 2-4 times over this woe-begotten state of rock and snow. I've heard fundamentalist Hindus or nationalistic Indians argue passionately that India should sacrifice all to keep Kashmir, to avenge Kargil. But why? The argument usually follows the vein of "it belongs to us." Misra provides context for both Muslims and Hindus. He also provides a thread that links the anti-Soviet Afghan freedm fighters to the Kashmiri insurgency movement 1990s and back to the Taliban of the 2000s. Mishra does this a lot. Whether it his chapter on Ayodhya or Allahabad, he provides links to other mass movements in the subcontinent over the past 100 years.

The larger point that he seems to make is that the region is a much more brutal and hopeless place than I've ever thought. Ex. it's the fate of Brahmins whose land was taken by Nehru and then whose job prospects were given to untouchables. Or Muslims who escape one massacre just to wait for the next massacre all with the governments tacit approval. Or it's Afghan women who either face the rage of extremists in the city or the dead, arid land in the countryside. Pankaj, dude, let's go out get a beer, watch some football and lighten up a bit. Or should that be a hot toddy and cricket.

[Faisal Buzdar · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extremely insightful book, providing an illuminating account of Pankaj Mishra's travels in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal and Tibet. Mishra takes us to cities and remote regions in these countries, uniquely experiencing modernity, development and changes wrought by capitalism. Meeting politicians, social activists, religious fanatics, traders, intellectuals and ordinary men and women, Mishra elucidates local history, politics, conflict and gains made by the powerful and the privileged. The prologue is one of the most well-written sections of the book in which Mishra tells the story of his stay in the historical town of Varanasi, time spent in a fast-dying public library and his encounter with a very interesting character, Rajesh. The chapters on Allahabad, Ayodhya, Kashmir and Pakistan are also brilliantly written and make one think hard about people trying to eke out a respectable existence amid tumult and turmoil. This book not only focuses on the aspirations of common people in South Asia and beyond, but also puts a spotlight on the chauvinism and appalling indifference exhibited by the urban middle classes. Many hailing from the urban areas of India and Pakistan, normally supporting the majoritarian rule, will find this book revealing and might even come to question the lies systematically fed to them by the state and mainstream media.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! This is totally my kind of nonfiction! The author, an Indian-educated journalist, lends his personal understanding of South Asian culture, language, and history to current events in these countries. The first chapter was my favorite, especially the strange juxtaposition of a Brahman immersed in Edmund Wilson with a Princeton undergrad smoking hookah in late-80s Benares. Throughout the book, I was disturbed by the accounts of corruption and violence that rampages in nations pushed into modernization (compared to the middle-class corruption of 19th-century Paris), but I was glad to find a happy ending. The conclusion is that a nation or people who are grounded in eternal moral principles can withstand any chain of world events.
Ironically, the journalistic style of the book reminded me of those I've read by Krakauer; the differences are that I found this book much more intellectually challenging, and deeply empathized with the views of this author.

[Ravi Prakash · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pankaj Mishra is one of the finest essayists of contemporary literary sphere. He is a native of Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in commerce from Allahabad University, he earned his M.A. in English Literature from JNU ( Jawaharlal Nehru University ), New Delhi. He started his writing-career by contributing literary essays and reviews in various literary journals and newspapers, especially in The Pioneer, in early 1990s.

I must say that I was ignorant about this man of letters until an online friend from Assam who provided me a lost story that I was looking for, told me recently, and suggested to read his first book, ‘Butter Chicken in Ludhiyana.’ Well, I couldn’t get that one, but I got his other book, ‘Temptations of the West: How to be Modern in India, Pakistan, Tibet and Beyond.’

Apparently, this is a non-fiction, but it was hard for me to categorize it in any certain sub-genre. It’s a mix of autobiography, history, contemporary politics and travelogue.

The book is divided in three parts and it has a Prologue also. In the Prologue, the author talks about his Benaras days where he spent four months in late 1980s and how he came across reading Edmund Wilson in BHU (Benaras Hindu University )’s library, and how his writings affected Mishra’s thought process. A great many other writers are also fleetingly mentioned whose works Mishra read and how they helped him to analyze the cause and consequences of the present days and History, is also described. Rajesh, a frustrated graduate from BHU, author’s friend in Benaras, has got the special mention and how he becomes a contract-killer under small leaders of eastern UP (Uttar Pradesh ), and also, how young men like him get entangled in crime going through an identity crisis and end up in jail. Later, the author tries to formulate an equation between Rajesh and Fredrich Moreau, the protagonist of Gustave Flaubert’s Sentimental Education. Mishra asserts that both, Rajesh and Fredrich, were in the search of identity, survival and happiness, and thus, their actions were motivated by that.

Part-1 has three essays based on Allahabad, Ayodhya and Bollywood (Mumbai) respectively. Mishra had lived in Allahabad as a university student during 1985-1988, and in September 2000, he visits Allahabad again as a journalist. His narrative about Allahabad
Go to the link to read the detailed review- https://www.histolit.com/temptations-...

[Suzette · Rating 4 out of 5]

An illuminating read by an excellent writer. Content was nicely presented, lively and from an interesting viewpoint. Recommended if you’re interested in learning about the people, culture and day to day life in India.

[Esther · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been at least 10 years since I read this book. I remember thoroughly enjoying it. Overall it was very insightful and an eye-opener.

[Krishna Srinivasan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pankaj Mishra is a very talented journalist who is able to weave together diverse strands of knowledge and experience into a singular stream of information, all from a richly sympathetic and surprisingly unbiased standpoint.

The first piece on Benares, autobiographical and heartfelt, was stunning, and his essay on Kashmir was so absolutely phenomenal that for the first time in my life I feel I’ve finally understood the Kashmir problem, shorn of all the half-arsed tidbits in patriotic films, the uninformed rantings by obtuse nationalists, and attention seeking headlines by armchair left wingers. It should be required reading for all Indians.

In contrast, the Nepal essay is somewhat redundant in 2025 but this is to be expected.

[Harshit · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book by Mishra that I have read. I’d heard of him from his fights with Rushdie and Ferguson. In my mind he was always the review world’s Rakhi Sawant. Reading this book has possibly elevated him – Sawants and Kardashians don’t go to Afghanistan and Tibet – but it still is a tepid book. ‘A sparkling collection’ the back-cover declares , ‘…Pankaj Mishra looks at the surprising ways modernity has come to South Asia’. It also notes that the books contains ‘lurid and astonishing characters’ from ‘societies that are struggling to define themselves’. Every writers dream, every readers nightmare.

While the characters might be intriguing to a westerner who is being introduced to South Asia by this book, they are no revelation to us natives. With one foot in JNU’s campus and one foot in London (where as he notes, he divides his time), Mishra peeks into Mumbai, where he critiques the likes of KHNH and KKHH (for the NRI’s), Mallika Sherawat (‘As she spoke, she kept brushing back thick wavy hair from her full-lipped, oval face …. Mallika and I sat on the sofa, separated by a few inches – the narrow space into which she suddenly dropped, while still speaking of Almodovar, two glossy photos’ ) and a struggler (doesn’t everyone writing about Bollywood?). In Afghanistan he meets war-lords and new ministers struggling to find a place in the new country – and in Tibet (where he travels by Land Cruiser) he sadly admires the beauty.

While to us there might be nothing new in Mishra’s essay’s, maybe someone in the west might find more use with the book. Sadly he seems to have taken the role of the slightly leftist conscience keeper to readers in the west, vacated by Roy , who has scooted, well – more to the left. Mishra has probably just started thriving in that world. I just hope he starts writing better books – because he seems to be an otherwise excellent writer

[Alden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mishra is a very good writer and this book is in many ways illuminating. It discusses some aspects of contemporary life, the stresses of contemporary life in South Asia. I had hoped for more of the sort of analysis the title seems to promise: an explicit examination of the strains put on the people in these nations by the demands of modernity and the modern market culture. Instead, the book is largely narrative (not in itself a bad thing) with each chapter following a regular pattern - exemplary narrative, background or history, exemplary narrative). The book is also a reworking of articles published in the New Yorker and sometimes has an episodic feel. Weakest is the chapter on Nepal; best, the one on Pakistan and the section on Kashmir. A good book, but not the one I'd hoped for and expected.

[Tariq Mahmood · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is a journalist's experiences in his native India, where he focuses on politics and Kashmir, in Pakistan where he explores a jihadism, in Nepal where Maoism rebellion is covered and in Tibet where Dalai Llama and the Tibetan struggle is touched upon. I really enjoyed his objective and impartial depiction of Hindu fundamentalism in India and the distinction made with Islamic fundamentalism which was pretty poignant. I also enjoyed the Pakistani and a Afghani analysis. The Pakistani areas covered were in the war torn North West provinces. The last chapters on Nepal and Tibet were not as good as the initial ones as the author does not display the same depth of analysis. Nevertheless, the book is an important reference to any one trying to understand these countries from an insider point of view.

[Aakash · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked temptations of the west because of its narrative style different from what I am used to in the academic genre. Mishra is discussing important questions about modernity and tradition in south Asia using very personal stories of real people in different locations in south Asia and raising the fundamental question of becoming modern over and over again through out the book. It is easy to see that the book's overarching frame work of thinking is post-colonial studies though what makes the book different from academic tomes and more accessible to a larger audience is restraint from engaging with just the academic community. Mishra is writing to a wider audience and trying to take what is usually just an academic conversation among 10-15 people at a time, to a much wider audience in south Asia and interested folks elsewhere. I hope more people read this book.

[Isha Adwitiya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book and the author too.... it’s a great book for all to read and know many things. This should be adopted by all the schools and colleges to teach. It’s really an awesome book to learn many things not because it shows the temptations of the west but it shows us how we lived in the past and how west ruled us, taught us to respect our cultures, how to believe in it, how to do the things in a significant manner and after they leave us how we managed and how we survived and how our country grow and other countries as well... along with us....
With togetherness to misunderstandings, from war to peace and business...
Awesome book for everyone to know many things in details, which we don’t found in other books by searching!!!

[Ming · Rating 2 out of 5]

A series of essays which are more personal experiences of an Asian Indian journalist. Well-written and each essay contains intriguing and/or lesser-known facts, e.g., Western involvement in so many of these countries and involvement that made the countries worse. The style is a bit chatty and wandering.

[NinaCD · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought provoking. Not a typical travel book at all-- author writes objectively about political climate and social issues rather than about where he goes, what he eats and how he "feels."

[Rojel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting read (though the title can be a little misleading - its not a book preaching anything) about contemporary stories from India (stories about India dominate the book much more than Pakistan or Tibet) - Dalit identity politics from Uttar Pradesh (India's largest state and the home of the cow belt and caste politics), aspiration of migrants in search of the Bollywood dream and massacre of Sikhs in Chittisinghpura among others. For me the story that really stood out was about the Chittisinghpura massacare that was a killing of 36 Sikhs in a small town in Kashmir on the eve of President Clinton's visit. Pankaj tries, but not too hard, to go to the depths of "who dun it" - ultimately bringing out the tragedies practical aspects - a fearful community to afraid to speak either against the Indian govt. agencies or the Kashmiri militants/terrorists. I only remember this massacre was being blamed on the Pakistan based terrorists originally - but the book suggests there is more to it, and it could even have been a "false flag" attack. In any case I had to do more research on my own as to who really did it. It looks like the current consensus from most sources is that it was probably the 'Ikhwanis' - rehabilitated former militants - whether they were directed by Indian Govt or Army is not clear and will probably will never be. One thing is clear though that Kashmiris often have to deal with a lot of excesses by the Indian Armed forces - and many times the ones who bear the brunt are the ones who want no trouble - just want to peacefully live their lives. That is the tragedy of Kashmir, as it is of every separatist struggle.

[Sharang Sharma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pankaj Mishra always offers cutting insights written in deeply compelling prose. I've long been a fan of his essays for the NYRB and LRB, and I think he carries the same voice with him in these essayistic pieces. What I think is different about these is the beautifully written, and often emotionally striking, vignettes he paints of the places he travels to. Right from the prologue, where he talks about his friend, the intellectual turned contract killer, and his place within the contradictory modernization of India, you get a sense that Mishra has an eye for the human core of the stories he tells. This shines through in most of these pieces. It's particularly the pieces closer to home, those written in India and in Pakistan, where he shows this human touch. This is also where he does best at painting a nuanced and complex depiction of the contradictions inherent to the way these places have developed. Though, my one problem with the book is the moments where he seems to let these go. You particularly start seeing this in the later chapters, such as those on Tibet, where, while not directly demonizing the CCP, he does not provide the same broader picture he does of the murky, difficult history of violence displayed by all sides within a conflict (as he does deftly when talking about Kashmir). Similarly, it sometimes feels like a certain cynicism colours descriptions a little too darkly, though I often wonder whether it's my own naiveté that makes me believe that. In either case, the book is fantastic, both as a reflection on the deeply contradictory processes of modernization, and as a short introduction to the politics and histories of various nations and areas. I recommend it whole-heartedly!

[Dipesh Mittal · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Not a review, just few thoughts came while reading this)


This book written more than a decade ago, tries to understand the political situation in South Asian countries, though much haven't changed in these years. I can relate to Pankaj Mishra, we have lot of things in common, we both come from upper-caste middle-class Hindu family, living under the cloud of insecurity and uncertainty, in which more often than not bred in prejudice, we blame the 'other' ( in India, which is Muslim). Pankaj Mishra grew up in 1980s (period just before the liberalization of Indian economy), While, I, in post-liberalization, post-9/11 period in an 'alien society', in which riots accompanied by curfews and economic boycotts only brought excitement in ordinary dull day. Reading this book and earlier Americanah, made me realize how my own experience growing up in Third World country( in a small town, with no bookshop, btw I still depend on Amazon for my stock) is greatly different from the people growing up in other country(or in cities for that matter). Recently watching a lecture by Slavoj Zizek on Youtube, he used the term 'privileged victim'. Reading about the plight of Minorities and Tribal, I've always used 'privilege' to describe my situation, but while using this term only help us in conjuring up marred image. Maybe 'privilege victim' is the right word to describe the situation I'm in.

[Nidish · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book primarily out of fascination with the title. The book is far from discussing anything the title implies, however. The author seems to take pride in not being the subject of his musings and tries to impress on the reader his objectivity. I have personally grown weary of objective pieces and the pointlessness of this book made me very tired as I continued reading it - it was just not what I had hoped for.

However, I must say that the book is very well written and reads like butter. The fact that each chapter is organized as pretty much self-contained essays was something I loved. All my qualms with it are the content. There were still several instances that were particularly personal and touching. Some exampls - the "Brahmin" criminal from a poor background in the preface; the opium addicted reporter he meets in Afghanistan; a sight of a bearded pashtun man sleeping close to a historic monument in Kabul that transports one back several centuries, etc.

None of these, however, sticks. Maybe the reason is that the book was written ~20-30 years ago and the book is certainly no timeless classic.

[Nibir Deka · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book serves 2 important things: firstly it goes about narrative lines of a writer who is observing modernisation in India and other south East Asian countries through his experiences and travels. The of intermingling of modernity with caste, jihad and other traditional subjects like religion in Tibet.

Along with that it is a good starting book (although its now a bit dated) for the issues in Kashmir, understanding the aggressive right wing, Pakistan jihad, Afghanistan Taliban and the origins and a brief tale on Nepal and Tibet. Although one can't agree with everything the writer says (which usually finds the causation of most things as a consequence of right wings but misses out on the failures of left-centrist politics), this still is an important read for anyone looking to broaden their horizons. Mishra's style of narrative writing fuses non-fiction into effective storytelling.

[Thomas Haverkamp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Een bij vlagen prachtig relaas over India, Pakistan, Afgahnistan, Nepal en Tibet, en de worsteling met het westen en de eigen geschiedenis. Het werd mij duidelijk dat veel leed was veroorzaakt door het westerse kolonialisme, wat vervolgens door de eigen en huidige bestuurders nog een stukje verder geholpen werd. De situatie is alleen maar slechter geworden , door vooral veel politieke eigen intresse.

[Ramesh Adhikari · Rating 1 out of 5]

How to be modern in India, Pakistan, Tiber, and beyond? I never really got the answer to that question by the time I finished the book. It is essentially a narration of the events in the South Asian region. In addition, the author keeps adding in his preconceived opinions which at times sound like a conspiracy theory rather than grounded on the facts.

[Lisa Ya-Han · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will be an excellent travelogue on one’s trip in India (thou I read it in my room). Insightful, journalistic but writing with sentiments. It is like Arundhati Roy without the smart sarcasm (which I also love).

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this one up for its interesting subtitle — How to Be Modern in India, Pakistan, Tibet, and Beyond — but it turned out to be a little misleading. Most of the time, Mishra is complaining about modernity, by which he mostly seems to mean contact with the West and the side effects of same (e.g. "the profound modernity of religious nationalism").

Mishra doesn't really completely convince me that the region's problems stem exclusively from modernity as he defines is, but this book gave me a lot of food for thought. India is a apparently lot more chaotic than I had thought. (I mean, no one got blown up or kidnapped in English, August.) And it's interesting to remember how much was going on in the world in 1917 - the October Revolution occurred, the Indian freedom struggle (according to this book) was going into high gear, and of course, there was a war on.

This appeared to be made of essays and articles originally written for magazines, so I had to cut it some slack about citations. (There aren't any; no index, either.) The piece about Afghanistan was an interesting contrast to Kabul Beauty School. The depiction of India honestly reminded me a lot of Iraq as it's depicted in The The Prince of the Marshes:: the interaction of a powerful religious nationalism movement, religious minorities, and tribal culture leading to violence. (When I say tribal I'm thinking of the tribes as depicted in Beowulf as well as Iraqi tribes. Weregild exists in both contexts, so why not compare them? I'm oversimplifying there but let's just say the connection makes some sense to me.)

[Sanjay Varma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Count me as a fan. The author is attempting to understand the human condition; he just happens to be writing about India. He offers no solutions, he merely describes the reality that people live.

His style is journalistic, not magazine article. The chapters have titles such as Kashmir, Pakistan, etc. In each chapter, the author presents chronologically his research for that particular region. His method is to interview and shadow the key players. It seemed to me that there were generally two types of people with whom he met: political leaders and victims.

Mishra is the type of journalist who would be killed if he wrote in Putin's Russia. He persists in following every trail, until he has shown that the official version of events rests on a bed of lies. His main focus, and very appropriate for a book about India, is to raise the alarm over religious intolerance.

[Manu · Rating 4 out of 5]

A commentary on life in the subcontinent, that vividly portrays issues that pertain to the region- from the university politics of Uttar Pradesh to the lanes of Bollywood and from Ram Janmabhoomi to the plight of Kashmir, and thats only one country.

It also shows the role of Pakistan in the cold war, its dealings with the US , the mujahideen, communists and the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Touches on Nepal and the Maoists vs Monarchy tussle. Most importantly it also throws light on how religion can fuel the fires of jihad (Afghanistan) as well as serve as a cohesive force that becomes a source of cultural identity (Tibet).

While it could be claimed that he does not devote the deserved attention to each part of the sub continent and therefore leaves the work incomplete, what I liked was that though Mishra tries his best to remain objective in his understanding of the issues, he is also not dispassionate, and tries to bring in a perspective that reflects the views and experiences of the resident population. If you've read his earlier work, 'The Romantics', you'll feel a sense of deja vu, not just in the content, but in the tone too.

Read it at a good time since the outcome of a lot of things discussed in the book is happening now - Prachanda's triumph in Nepal, the return of the Kasmiri pundits, the Tibetan protests.

The other good take out was his projecting of Buddhism as possibly the last bulwark against capitalism. No, I'm not a communist anymore, but strongly believe that our society needs an anti thesis, an option against the unbridled arrogance of money.

[Danesh Hussain Zaki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Temptations of the West: How to be Modern in India, Pakistan and Beyond contains treatises on the author’s travels through India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal and Tibet. Pankaj Mishra provides honest, fearless reports from the areas he visits. The incidents and conditions that he reports are hardly covered or purposely censored in the mainstream media. Reports from Kashmir, Pakistan’s play in Afghanistan and the political reasons on events and the governments responses, are well covered. He also mentions the threats he and his family have received due to his frank coverage.

The book is recommended to anyone who wants a honest, on-the-ground view of things.

[David Mason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written but really more of a collection of essays. I didn't check - were they all previously published somewhere? Not that it matters.

My sense is nothing really new here. I thought the chapter on Tibet, in particular, was weak and cursory.

I was hoping for a more thoughtful discussion, and perhaps some synthesis, but instead found a collection of essays more along the lines of "difficulties of modernization" (or - because I hate the word "modernization", perhaps recent history showing some difficulties the region faces).

[Tenzing · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book made me realize how ignorant I am of the deeper context of many of the things - violence in Kashmir, Hindu-Muslim bloodshed - I was constantly exposed to in the papers and on TV while attending boarding school in India. Makes me question the value of much of the `learning' that goes on in classrooms all over South Asia. As Bob Marley once memorably said, "If I were educated I'd be a damn fool."

[Vikram · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting sections on Nepal and Tibet, but overall it's hard to take his narrative history style seriously because he offers no hard evidence, just personal observations. For the larger sections in the book covering India including Bollywood, the BJP, Kashmir and Nehru's legacy, I did not feel that he added much to existing works on the same topics. His latest book From the Ruins of Empire sounds promising.