Delhi: Its Monuments and History

by Thomas George Percival Spear, Narayani Gupta (Editor), Laura Sykes (Editor)

First published in 1943, Percival Spear's Its Monuments and History has long been recognized as one of the best guides to Delhi. Written in an engaging and wonderfully informal manner, Spear's guide, bringing alive the Delhi of the sultans and their ruined buildings, of tongas and lazy picnics, is a classic in its own right. Narayani Gupta and Laura Sykes revisited the places described by Spear and updated the original book, which was issued with annotations in 1994. The third edition includes a foreword by Narayani Gupta describing the changes that the city has undergone since. The book, apart from acting as an up-to-date field guide for those interested in exploring and rediscovering the city, will appeal to students and teachers of history and cultural studies.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Architecture

204 pages, Paperback

First published September 29, 1994

About the author

Thomas George Percival Spear, OBE, was a British historian of modern South Asia, in particular of its colonial period. He taught at both Cambridge University and St. Stephen's College, Delhi.

Reviews

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lonely Planet will guide you through the monuments of Delhi, so this book is mostly interesting as a historical travel guide, very British in perspective, written prior to Independence. Taking it with that grain of salt (and referring to the modern annotations that correct some of Spear's anecdotes), I enjoyed thinking about these places I had seen in Delhi from this charmingly old-fashioned point of view.

[Azeem Ali]

An essential guidebook for anyone seeking to explore the monuments of Delhi