India

October 1, 2008
Here is an excellent eye-opener about the dazzling landscape, diverse culture, long history, and various peoples of India, beautifully capturing in exuberant photographs accompanying the text the history and culture of a country that is home to more than a billion people. The book, aimed at general readers and students, is divided into six sections (landscape, history, people, culture, architecture, and travel), with coverage that traverses tradition and modernity, rural and urban, across all regions, religions, languages and ethnicities. The various texts, which, are not separately signed, are contributed by subject experts on historical, archaeological, and cultural themes, which extend back to the civilizations of the Indus Valley. There is no bibliography; the book's chief attraction will be to newcomers to the subject and to those seeking a well-packaged, visually rich introduction to India. For school and public libraries.Uma Doraiswamy, Western Kentucky Univ. Lib., Bowling Green

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2008
India is a land of extraordinary beauty, a perpetually metamorphosing place with a dramatic 5,000-year history and a population of more than one billion people belonging todiverse ethnicities and traditions. What better means to gain a fix onthe countrythan a concisely yet informatively narrated and gorgeously colorful pictorial survey? The tour begins with the subcontinents grand and mysterious vistasthe Himalayas, the immense Thar Desert of Rajasthan, the Deccan Plateau, sacred rivers, and magnificent beaches. A parade of artifacts and artworks, quotes from sacred texts and literary works, and photographs of historic places, people, and architectural treasures follows, tracking successive waves of migration, invasion, and conquest that enriched and complicated the cultural matrix as religions blossomed, empires rose and fell, and India became a modern global power. To provide a more personal perspective, 14 individuals (a Hindu priest, a schoolchild, a tribeswoman, a train driver, among them) are portrayed, each a portal into a fascinating, many-faceted world.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)