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Usually ships in 1 business days | | | In the 13th Century, Marco Polo described India as “a land of wonders,” and his observation is no less true today. India is the world’s largest democracy, a nuclear power, and a rising economic giant-but also the world’s most ancient surviving civilization, with unbroken continuity stretching back into prehistory. It is a land of tremendous spirituality punctuated by terrible religious violence, of vast deserts and Himalayan peaks that disappear into the sky, of remote Mughal forts and jam-packed megacities, and of the world’s most glorious architectural splendors: the Taj Mahal, the Red Fort, and Luyten’s Delhi. An epicenter of trade and a land of extraordinary riches, India has played a prominent role in world history. At the beginning of the 21st century, India has once again become a leading player on the world stage. In India, Michael Wood leads his audience on six eye-opening journeys into the subcontinent, where he uncovers the fabulous sights and sounds, the dazzling achievements, and the dramatic history of the world’s most influential civilization. This sumptuously illustrated book is a magical mix of history and travelogue, and an unforgettable portrait of India-past, present, and future. | | | |
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| | Product Details | | Author: | Michael Wood | | Hardcover: | 256 pages | | Publisher: | Basic Books | | Publication Date: | November 12, 2007 | | Language: | English | | ISBN: | 0465003591 | | Package Length: | 9.8 inches | | Package Width: | 7.6 inches | | Package Height: | 1.3 inches | | Package Weight: | 2.15 pounds | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 4 reviews |
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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Film-maker's take on the history of India Nov 15, 2008
History is an opinionated art form which must rely on science, technology and archeology to constantly refine its opinions, and sometimes convert opinions to facts. The history of India written by Indians and non-Indians follows a viewpoint defined by European sources, ancient Chinese sources, and medieval Muslim sources. While sometimes useful, this trajectory often follows an opinionated path, often colorized and divorced from reality, as illustrated, for example, by the opinions of Romila Thapar and her school of thought. The cautious historian does not negate any piece of evidence, be it archeological, oral tradition, living traditions, in addition to scripture evidence, preserved writing and paintings, rock-inscriptions, etc. It takes a great leap of bigotry to negate a whole set of traditional evidence as irrelevant, as exemplified by Romila Thapar, and unfortunately continued by Michael Wood.
The book offers selected vignettes from Indian history from pre-historical to the current time. The book has a lot of valuable illustrations and photographs collected from museums in the Indian sub-continent. This is the biggest plus of this book, written by a documentary film-maker, and less a historian. Additionally, I liked his reporting archeological evidence from as recent as 2005. Unfortunately, he trashes Indian epics as non-history (never mind that satellite imagery has revealed the existence of the Vedic-era river, Saraswati, and the submerged city of Krishna Dwaraka off the Western coast). Then when he discusses British rule in India, he could not have selected softer kid-gloves. His credibility as a historian is shot in just these two aspects. As a historian he has fallen prey to becoming a victim of his opinions, rather than an unbiased examination of the evidence.
Read this book for what it is - a film-maker's view of selected episodes of Indian history and enjoy the imagery presented. For authoritative history, you must look elsewhere.
I am giving this a 3-star.
0 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Terrible book Sep 27, 2008
I bought this book hoping to better understand the culture of India. Instead, I find the book incredibly biased, dry, and extremely non-informative.
The introduction of the history is a mess. The author doesn't seem to have any real understanding of India. What's in the book is like bits and pieces of short paragraphs copied from reference books.
The analysis of the culture has absolutely no depth. The not-so-well grounded admiration of the culture makes one wonder whether the author has even been to India or know any Indian.
Avoid Avoid Avoid.
4 of 7 found the following review helpful:
A celebration, not a history Aug 26, 2008
This is a rich, affectionate travelogue of modern India. Among the best parts is its very good overview of recent fascinating developments in India's rich archaeology. The common tendency of archaeology to be used to gild Indian nationalism is noted, but not vigorously deplored.
There is some obtrusive and tedious self-loathing by this post-war British liberal. He writes as if it were the British who were the bloodthirsty, destructive invaders, and Muslims who were the reformers and modernizers. He might read his Will & Ariel Durant, who assert that the Islamic invasion of India was the bloodiest in history.
The pictures are stunning, and are worth the price of the book.
2 of 6 found the following review helpful:
PIcturesque claptrap Aug 09, 2008
Nice photos. But...
On the one hand we have misty-eyed, politically-correct nostalgia for the few Moslem leaders who tolerated Hindus and Buddhists and were thus assassinated as apostate and replaced by their more pious brethren.
Contrast this with the condemnation of the British East India Company depicted as a roll model for today's multinationals "who (sic) exercise the power of life and death over large swathes of the world." (p. 217)
Give yourself a break and skip the text.
Anybody know a good history of India?
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