A crisply written account of rise of terrorism in Punjab and its relationship with expatriate community. A Non biased and well researched book which provides insight into Sikhism and Punjabi roots and current reality of 80s. Highly recommended to get facts straight.

In this interesting essay Bhupinder Singh Mahal attempts to trace Punjabi cultural characteristics back to the Scythians, focusing particularly on the independent nomadic spirit that still infuses the Punjabi (especially Punjabi Sikh) diaspora. It is quite a readable book, and the author's creation of a resonance from ancient to modern times rings true for anybody with a sense of the Punjabi character. There are fascinating asides and plausible if speculative linkages among various old and new traditions, the characteristic turban-wearing among them.

However, this book suffers from the same problems that plague much South Asian academic writing - lack of citations. There are informal references to all manner of writings, but no detailed citations that one could check, and little attempt to rigorously evaluate sources for their reliability which unfortunately makes the treatise less than scholarly.

This author's experience in Canada adds something to his understanding of Punjabis and the issues they face. He is able, for example, to draw on Canadian stereotypes about the people of Newfoundland ("Newfies") to comment on subcontinental humor about Sikhs. He grasps more than most Sikh authors in Punjab the truly global character of the community today, and therefore is well placed to expound on his theme of long-term nomadism in the culture. The diasporan South Asians are not best viewed as "ex-pats" at a distance from their homelands; rather, the diaspora is itself part of the South Asian cultural heartland. (Certainly we have seen this in the Khalistan movement, for example.) On this key point, the author has an important insight to offer. Trying to track the motif of travel back into history is an innovative, if by nature speculative, endeavor. Bhupinder Singh Mahal is to be commended for the attempt.

The above review from the person from california is absolutely incorrect. I think the person has the wrong book. In no way was this book ever banned in India, rather encouraged. This is a biased one sided work that wasted so many trees in publication. For the sake of saving our environment as well as your time I recommend a more thorough and unbiased work titled: "Fighting for Faith and Nation: by Cynthia Mahmood.

I suggest all the people that don't buy this book because the author was Indian government agent during the operation of Blue Star. He didn't write a lot of things that happened but instead he wrote good things about Indian government that Indian troops took their shoes off before entering Golden Temple but it's not true. All the troops had their shoes on in the Golden Temple. I even has seen the pictures. So I request everyone not to read this book.

Gen KS Brar, a sikh himself, was chosen to lead this thankless and foolish effort called Operation Bluestar. Brar discusses the background of the operation with an objective eye of a soldier. As he understands it, the operation was necessitated when Bhindranwale and his band fortified themselves in this holy place and started ruling Punjab by issuing murder decrees. Being a sikh and coming from an Indian army family, I can say that this is only partially true. In hindsight, Bluestar should have been a police action like Black Thunder. What the book doesn't bring out as clearly is the clumsy effort of the army (that lacked any kind of intelligence input) to carry out the operation. The blame for this operation rests solely on Indira Gandhi who let the situation deteriorate to such a state that the operation had to be contemplated.

The book is a necessary read for anyone following Punjab politics if only because it comes from the actual soldier who carried out the operation rather than some hatemongers from Canada who also call themselves Sikh.

Seemed promising, but very disappointing. Very british perspective-- what about Panjabi view points?

The book starts off weak but I continued reading since I'm fairly open minded regarding most writing styles. I wanted to give the author as much lateral movement as possible but I found this book to be poorly written. Early on the author exposes his political biases with statements such as "Sikh capitalist Farmers" and states that they were largely responsible for the Punjab problem.

Since the author is a professor at Simon Fraser University my expectations were needlessly raised with respect to an objective perspective of the "Punjab Problem". I was disappointed because there was little research or analysis evident in this book, statements like "dangerous alliance of 'Godmen' and 'Goons'" goes against the standards of academic objectiveness. The war for independence in Punjab as any conflict is a complex one, combining all of the following; religion, economics and divergent political objectives. This book falls under the "Publish or Parish" umbrella where Professors all over the world are forced to churn out endless volumes that serve no useful purpose.

The best book I've come across regarding the unrest in Punjab has been "Fighting for Faith and Nation Dialogues with Sikh Militants by Cynthia Keppley Mahmood". I disagree with some of her conclusions but it is well researched and thought provoking, as I thought the current book I'm reviewing should have been. I purchased "Fighting for Faith and Nation Dialogues with Sikh Militants" a few years ago online through Amazon so it might still be available or you should at least be able to pick up a used copy. If you still want to buy "Sikh Ethnonationalism and the Political Economy of the Punjab" save your money, you can have mine I'm willing to give it to you for free." Happy Reading.

This book is a big let down. Save your money and get Arts of the Sikh Kingdoms. This is small, cheap, poor quality and boring in comparison

I ordered this book with great excitement - it promised so much. However I cannot describe the disappointment, actually I can and here it is: Published by the Sikh Foundation (who are they?) and edited by Kerry Brown (who is he?) it contains a number of papers delivered at an academic conference some years ago - in many respects a worthy and vital addition to the body of research into Sikh heritage. However it should really have remained an academic conference and a collection of papers - this is not a book. The writing, with a few notable exceptions (Sidhu, Lal and Stronge), is simply not accessible to most readers of this book. Most of the academics that have been asked to contribute seem to have some other agenda in the forefront of their minds. In one hilarious chapter on Sikh architecture, the writer (who clearly has a deep and passionate interest in Greek and Roman Architecture) seems to forget that he is writing for a Sikh audience and then casually remarks that there are some parallels and then goes on to finish his chapter about Early Greek temple architecture - very very weird. Before I look at the more redeeming features - the poor quality of the book's design and presentation must be noted. In 1999 there was an outpouring of excellent Sikh publications (Patwant Singh's The Sikhs, Warrior Saints, The Sikhs (Tiger Press), Psyche of the Soul and most notably the catalogue to the Arts of the Sikh Kingdoms (Ed Susan Stronge)) These books have gone a long way in redefining the quality of Sikh publications. 'Sikh Art and Literature' however belongs to the Hemkunt Press school of publishing - this is a very cheaply produced book. The reproduction of the images is very poor indeed, most of the images are pixelated, blurred or just badly re produced. Some of the pictures are just plain embarrassing - it is worth paying for the book just to see the Polaroid of Khushawnt Singh ! This is not a book for the coffee table or your shelf This lack of attention to detail shows nothing but contempt for the subject matter and the unsuspecting reader. This is clearly a publication aimed at cashing in on the boom for Sikh books in 1999- well you got me! I hope that you don't fool too many others

This book is a real piece of work, i checked it out from my university's library, and the history and facts it represents contradict what is already precedented. I believe D.H. Butani did this book with a bias and in an attempt to deny the history of the sikhs, no one should buy this book unless you need some scrap paper around the house