professor cohen may be the most brilliant anthropologist of our time as it pertains to south asia. this book is a sparkling example of a prodigious mind at work. it is both scholarly and playful; rigorous and light-hearted. may be read for both pleasure and for what it can teach us about all manner of things. may be the beat scholarly work i have ever read. first-rate.

Brilliant ethnographic research fused with engaging narrative that makes for truly enjoyable reading. Cohen dissects the phenomenon of an aging population and their role in culture and society, while explaining the greater implications both for policy and popular opinion, with reflections on US and Western societies.

Bardhan has put together an amazing collection of short stories. The writers belong to different generations and different periods in modern South Asian history, but the selection has so clear an aim that each story belongs as much in the book as the others. The translations are excellent, too. There is none of the awkwardness that one often encounters when a culture is interpreted to the world. As for the stories themselves, they describe the terrible, often chilling, near-helplessness of women and outcastes in Bengal. And yet, even in the most wretched lives, they portray hope and grim triumph. They are remarkably devoid of maudlin compassion.

This is an absolutely wonderful anthology of short stories; one of the best I've ever read. All are quite well written. Most of the stories are about the poorest of the poor in this area of India. While many of the stories are heart-breaking, it is not a depressing read. The title gives an accurate description of the book's focus. Some of the stories were written at the turn of the century & some more recently. Anyone who is interested in India, peasants, poor people or feminism will love this book.

I grew up in South India (Bangalore) and used to observe my mother draw "kolams", these intricate designs with rice flour, each one done without the aid of an outline or preliminary sketches. I had never seen any photo journal or essay acknowledge this simple art form. She would begin by washing the cement surface and then "drop" dots in a seemingly random pattern, and then go about connecting some dots and "drawing" lines with the white flour around other dots, until the pattern emerged. The next day it would be a different design.

I happen to have an autographed copy of this book and is one of my prized possessions on Indian art. The fact the author takes you on a trip to other places in India to capture the essence of simple art evident in the villages throughout India is an added bonus for me.

I felt I was there with each page. I am from Madras, my mother taught me 'kolams' from th eage of five. Now in the USA, I am an educator,teaching Indian culture and dance. I have done these rice flour drawings in Greenbush MN four hundred miles from Mineapolis,children love them. This book has motivated me to travel to all the places mentioned and learn the other folk arts to complete my understanding of painted prayers. What a wonderful name.

Paper Before Print is a glorious achievement from all perspectives: historically, culturally, and as an impeccable model of how books of this sort should be presented (though too often they do not). Jonathan Bloom's text is revealing and intellectually stimulating without alienating the average reader. His premise, though not a popular one -- that the Middle East played a far more important role in refining and introducing paper to the West than is usually acknowledged -- carefully unfolds with unassailable research and arguments. The illustrations, mostly early Islamic texts (700s-1300s), are tastefully selected and compliment the text perfectly. The typography, layout, and presentation are superb. Anyone interested in history, art, and printing will profit from having this book on their shelves.

The only reservation I have about this book is Bloom's rather confused knowledge of typography. The book suffers from his misuse of the terms "cold type" and "hot type," as he continuously confuses the terms.(For example, on page 224, he writes, "Cold type...required each letter to be set individually...".) "Cold type" is a term invented in the 1950s to describe the new phototypesetting machines; it was coined to distinguish it from the "hot type" of lead typecasting machines.
Neither term is applicable to what Bloom is describing in most cases.

This book was absolutely great. It tells the history of paper before it reached the Christian world. This is the time before the printing press was invented. Paper had just come from China. This book tells about this time that is sometimes forgotten. This book is the best

I bought this book on a whim from Amazon.com and finished it in 2 hours flat! It was almost as if it was written for me. Extremely insightful and still timely even though it was written several years ago. Any American of Indian origin should buy several copies and distribute it among their family members. Bravo!

After reading this book, I was able to sit down with my son and discuss issues we had never before discussed. It put things in such perspective. Priya Agarwal has written a masterful piece of work.

Many of the books I have read on Tantra are basically garbage. This one, however, is that jewel that makes it worth while sifting through the garbage. It is well written, well researched, and can be understood by westerners. I highly recommend it.

This study by Miranda Shaw is a must for everyone trult interested in the finer aspects of Tantric Buddhism. The author thoroughly explores the role of women in the development of vajrayana and comes to the justified conclusion that women's role has been much greater than is usually admitted by both Tibetan AND Western scholars. Rufus C. Camphausen

Rudyard Kipling writes concisely and with great insight on a wide range of issues. With each story only taking up a few pages the depth of characterisation is superb. 'The gate of one-hundred sorrows' is one of the finest short stories ever written.

My copy has 36 stories, but Kipling's Plain Tales tells about life in British-occupied India from every imaginable angle. It's touching, it's funny, and at times it's unbelievably sad. Don't let the author put you off, this is a highly readable book. My personal favorites are "Thrown Away" and "Beyond the Pale", but be careful; they're sad.

This book makes a significant intervention in the historiography of India in ways more than one. It furthers a major debate in south Indian historiography. Ever since its discovery, the nature of political order in the Cola state has been a subject over which historians have debated with considerable enthusiasm. Rejecting two of the major formulations, one by Nilakanta Sastri and the other by Burton Stein, Veluthat proposes to examine the validity of the thesis of Indian feudalism in the context of south India.

In so doing, Veluthat also participates in the now famous debate on Indian feudalism. Thus the book is important in two important ways: for the light it sheds on south Indian history as well as for the participation in the debate on feudalism. A hitherto neglected area in south Indian history, namely Kerala, is also brought into limelight in the book. Veluthat uses most sophisticated tools of research and places his data within a sturdy theoretical framework.

This book makes a thorough analysis of the political structure of South India in the period of the rule of the Pallavas, Pandyas, Ceras and Colas. It surveys the historiography of the period, identifying the major points of departure at different stages. It rejects the notion of a centralised empire proposed by Nilakantha Sastri as well as that of a segmentary state suggested by Burton Stein to explain the political structure obtaining in South India in this period. By making a systematic analysis of the epigraphical data, bringing to bear on it a statistical method, the author tries to test the validity of the feudal model for this region. An added attraction of the book is fresh data on Kerala which is not hitherto available in print.

Stella Kramrisch is transporting us in another world where we have to put aside our Western conditioned mind and to fully open our heart to grasp the complex world of the hindus Gods and particularly of Shiva, the Great God. But more than unveiling the secret stories of Shiva, this book is actually highlighting the "real presence" of Shiva in our current turmoiled World. A premonitory book !

Stella Kramrisch has done a brilliant job bringing Shiva to life. I have many other books which contain the stories of Shiva and Parvati; but no other does justice to his fantastic, immense, amazing, mind-blowing qualities. Shiva even has the power to kill with his 'lingam' which can be used as a weapon to annihilate his enemies. For those of you are interested in tantra and Kundalini, you will be delighted to understand that snakes form Shiva's ambience and that this ascetic is also master of the erotic and dance. Stella's translations will stir you imgination back to a more auspicious time. The stories make the conquests of today's corporate rulers seem pathetic.

More than just a casual pass through Bangladesh to investigate Grameen Bank, the micro-credit phenomenon started a quarter century ago by Muhammad Yunus, The Price of a Dream fills in gaps left by other writings. It puts a human face on the poor of this impoverished Asian country, formerly known as East Pakistan. It brings poverty-stricken Bangladeshis into your livingroom as factual, not fictional, folks.

"Aren't all Bangladeshis poor?" you ask. No. There is wealth. But there are also tens of millions of families so impoverished that one cannot begin to understand the depth and breadth of their deprivation without actually visiting this tropical nation or coming to know some of these people through a book such as this.

Bornstein writes in a painterly way. His stories, both sad and glad, weave a mesmerizing pattern of the richness of Bangladeshi life amid trying circumstances. How people cope, how they react to successes and disasters, how they work to pull themselves up economically and socially: every thread is pulled through the loom in due course to render a true and clear representation of lives on the ragged edge. Thanks to loans from Grameen, millions of families have been able to hem that edge, one stitch at a time, to finish off their piece of cloth.

For his part, Yunus, speaking as the economics professor he once was, declares, "Credit is a powerful weapon, and anyone possessing this weapon is certainly better equipped to maneuver the forces around him to his advantage." (p. 228)

Micro-credit empowers the unempowered. No one describes that process better than David Bornstein. The Price of a Dream will open your eyes to the possibility of minimizing the indignity of poverty in our lifetime, if not eliminate it altogether. Every beautiful tapestry starts with a single thread. Even if that first thread is mere hope, it's a worthy place to begin.

I am a junior in highschool. I chose this book from an AP Economics reading list I received this year. When I started reading this book, I expecting a monotonous mass of numbers, terms, and theories. However, I was soon captivated by the story. Bornstein beautifully integrated the story of the Grameen Bank, the lives of its members, and the economic principles behind it.