A New History of India

Rating:
Summary: really out of date
Review: Except for chapter 26, the contents of this book would suggest that writing about the history of India stopped in the 1970s. There has been an enormous amount of scholarship in the last quarter century that should be incorporated into any serious history of South Asia. If the author is unwilling to do so, OUP should find another scholar able to update this very readable but now terribly antiquated volume.

Rating:
Summary: Well documented work on a complex land and culture
Review: Stanley Wolpert devoted to the study of the history of the Indian sub continent has produced a remarkable book on India. If you have just enough time to read only one book on India, I will definitely recommend this one.

The history and the pluralistic culture of India are indeed complex. Wolpert provides a panoramic view of the development of Indian culture that has been formed through amalgamation and mixing of many cultures, races and religions. And he has done quite well. I am also very impressed with the fact that he has not adopted the usual western paternalistic attitudes towards his subject.

Wolpert's book should be read not only by the historians, but also people in the field of business, particularly those gurus of globalization who chaff at the slow pace of changes in countries like India. Wolpert provides a well-documented story of the plunder and subjugation of the Indians carried out in the name of international trade. After all East India Company was just another multinational company. To save the interests of the Company and its members the British government had to take over India.

But one can't blame the British for the take over. The late eighteen century saw India as a divided nation, various factions based on religion, caste and regional roots made it ripe for foreign invasions. What happened in India also linked to the wider scene in other part of the world. Lord Cornwallis who suffered a humiliating defeat in New York, appeared in India as the powerful general and did all he could to establish his might. Fights among the different kings in Europe had direct bearing on their fights in India.

To his credit, Wolpert has carried his story right up to the present time and made a heroic attempt to portray the current happenings in simplified ways. I however, detect a pro- American bias in this part of his book. The Nobel Peace Prize Winner Kisinger had a role in pushing the India- Pakistan war leading to the creation Bangladesh, but that was glossed over. Instead, Wolpert portrays Indira Gandhi choosing Russia over the western alliance and thus deviating from her father's policy of non-alignment. As a person who lived in the USA during the Nixon, I vividly remember how this Metternich of the US nudged the sub continent to war.

In any case, Wolpert has produced a very good book free from ideological preaching. It is a good book to read and have.

Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive and Balanced
Review: Stanley Wolpert's book on the history of India remains the most comprehensive and readable work ever written on this subject. The extensive story of the people of the Indian subcontinent, belonging to four different nations, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, from 2500 BC to the end of the 20th century is beautifully laid out in this book. Wolpert has successfully and honestly documented the struggles and aspirations of the people of this subcontinent.

India is a land of complexities and contradictions, with variety in faith, ethnic background, language and lifestyle. Therefore it is hard to capture the spirit of this land and its people. Wolpert has been successful with his mastery and expertise over the cultures, languages and faiths of these people belonging to various subgroups. Above all, it is his love for this land and its people that is evident in the pages of this well-written book. For anyone interested in India this is the book to begin with, and indeed it is an easy read.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: This was an excellent book. I am an Indian, and went through schooling in India where we were shoved "politically correct" history through our throat. This book clears up so much. For instance even today Indian textbooks refer to the mughal invaders as great men (to pacify certain minority communities). Mr. Wolpert is not averse to write about them as they actually were; marauders and looters.

Not only I feel better informed about India, but I have a better perspective about my own self, and psyche.

A must read if you want to know the history of India in a few interesting pages. Although it is a history text, it reads like a novel.