This is an excellent showcase of the Indian Mughal art - the Taj Mahal being the epitome. Giv es an excellent overview of the history. The commentary is good and the pictures, escpecially of the Taj on a moonlit night, are breathtaking.

Also gives a brief on places to see in and aeound Agra. Makes one want to visit Agra more than before.

This is agreat analysis of the philosophy and history of the Sikh polity. It is really an amazing work by a renowned scholar who has been reckoned as one of the GREATEST 100 SIKHS OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY by the surveys done in December 2000.
The book covers a period of about 400 years of the Sikh polity. The author deserves thanks for such a marvellous work. This is a must for every student and scholar of Sikhism. The author has also written an encyclopaedia of Sikhism under the title THE SIKH REFERENCE BOOK. In fact it is more than an encyclopaedia as it also includes the complete chronology of Sikhism from 1469 to 1996. Shiromani Akali Dal (A History) is another great work by the author. His latest books; (1) Sikh Philosophy and other essays and (2) Guru De Sher too are great works of scholarly research on the Sikh history. The author has given unknown information on each subject touched by him.

This book is the second part of a projected five-part series on the history of Asia from the rise of Islam in the 7th century of the Christian era down to the 18th century. Few scholars would have the courage and even fewer the competence to undertake such an exercise. Nor is this a history of religion or of religious conversion : it is far vaster in its scope and ranges from the study of environments, demography, and economy to kinship, statecraft and military technique. What is more, the author seeks to establish structural linkages and connections between these very diverse historical phenomena - not just in a single region but right across Eurasia from Siberia to Sumatra. He touches, en passant, on issues like the (now extinct) elephant populations of China, horsebreeding in India, and the era of Tibetan military dominance in north-central Asia. The basic paradigm that informs this work is that of the interaction between the herding and trading peoples of Central Asia and the settled farming and city-dwelling populations that lived around them in West, South and East Asia. The great integrative role of Islamic society is seen in its capacity draw and integrate these diverse lifeways and fit them into a single ecumene.

It is inevitable that specialists will find some of Wink's assertions weak and some arguments speculative. Given the imperfect record of the past available to us, no grand synthesis of this type can ever be without some weak spots. I personally felt uncomfortable with the repeated citation of traditions recorded centuries after the events they purported to describe, and the heavy reliance on the stories of Marco Polo. But I would still conclude by saying that this is a book that well repays the reading - it is simply bursting with ideas and information.

I couldn't read this book, but I felt very impressive about her painting during my last visit to Delhi, so I felt very excited about knowing about her life. Unfortunately I can't find available a book from her painting and her life. Does anybody know how can I get this book?

This is really a wonderful little tale. Having no familiarity with any of Jhabvala's other work, I'm not sure how To Whom She Will compares with her better known novels, such as Heat and Dust, or how it might be representative of any consistent style or theme with which she writes, but I'm certainly now excited to learn and confident that I've found another author whose fruits I enjoy.

To Whom She Will is a light, quick, and rewarding read, marked by nuanced, intelligent, and perceptive humor and rich with unpresuming moral substance, as well, whose relevance is probably timeless; a good choice with which to space out more demanding literature. It is a skillful satire primarily of the grandiosity and vanity and dumb, empty arrogance of the leisure classes in 1950's India (who are constantly tortured by self-constructed angst and console themselves with salves of righteousness and scorn) and of the vulnerability of youth to delusional romanticism, self-preoccupation, whimsy, melodrama, and the fascinating appeal of the ideals of Suffering and Love.

All of Jhabvala's characters are caricatures of a kind, and by them, I think, Jhabvala gently ridicules our wont to take ourselves and our chosen ambitions overly seriously. To Whom She Will lead me to reflect on the constant, furious human endeavor of interpreting-of inventing, really-our individual lives; on our tendency to become easily distracted from living by our ceaseless efforts at scripting and performing our own stories, desperate to make them glamorous and honorable, willfully deluding ourselves in order to believe we live passionate lives, that we have transcended the quotidian, that we love with a great, awesome love, that our personal suffering is exceptionally puissant, that ours is a struggle with Fate and Tragedy, that we require the greatest courage to navigate the circumstance and choices we face, and perhaps-ultimately-that our lives have meaning and significance.

Jhabvala's characters invoke ridicule and disdain. It is natural to laugh at them. Indeed, the evolution of Jhabvala's plot I found remarkably adroit in its manner of illuminating her characters' various follies and vanities with levity, but her characters are no less real or realistic for their unadulterated weaknesses. After having relished my amusement, the more lasting effect of Jhabvala's tale, for me, was in taking pause to ruminate humbly again on my own delusions.

This biography in fictional form portrays the life of Amy Carmichael a young woman who went to India as a missionary. After saving one little girl from temple prostitution, Amy and her collegues started orphanages to house these children. An invalid the latter part of her life, Amy continued to encourage her "kids" and collegues and many others through her books. I enjoyed reading about her life.

This book traces the history of Delhi from the stone age to the time of the Rajputs. Against a background of the history of India, it meticulously weaves together evidence from stone tools, ancient mounds, pottery, monuments, sculpture, references in literature and legend to reconstruct a comprehensive and lively historical narrative. Written in a style aimed at accuracy as well as clarity, the book will be of interest to historians, students of history, general readers - in fact anybody who is interested in Delhi's ancient past. The text is accompanied by several maps and a large number of photographs which bring alive Delhi's little-known ancient history

This is a very good book for those who are interested in World music and/or fusion music and want to be able to play all those beautifull and often complex rhythms that one hears in that type of music.

The first chapter is about the Rhythms from West Africa, it has a clear chapter on polyrhythms and a formula to figure them out. Chapter two deals with the rhythms from Bali, the one you will hear in Gamelan music, and chapter Three deals with Indian Rhythms, Both from North and South India.

And then in the fourth and final chapter one mixes all that rhythm knowledge to create new patterns, hence the name Future Possibilities.

If you do all the exercices in the book you are well one your way to play and understand the rhythms that masters like Trilok Gurtu and Glen Velez play.

Also recomended are Rhythm book authors like Reinhard Flatischler, Alan Dworsky, Sule Greg Vilson, Peter Magadini and Tom Klower.

See also the videos by Airto Moreira, Alex Acuna, Kalani and Paulo Mattioli.

Robinson provides a unique analysis of the Great Mutiny from the perspective of the British women involved. Robinson conveys, in a manner that strictly military writers do not, the scope of the Mutiny and its "domestic" impact.

Only another woman could have written this book. Robinson combines sympathy with a certain level of judgment of the actions and opinions of some of the participants in a straightforward way. She is unencumbered by the Victorian deference to women and current fear of radical feminism.

The selection of photographs-- current and historical-- and old wood cuts that accompany the text reflect great care and excellent judgment.

In all, an important addition to the field of Mutiny scholarship related in a very human way.

Anklet For A Princess: A Cinderella Story From India is an fabulous adaptation of the East Indian story "Nagami" (Jewel of the Snake), a legend that in many ways resembles the classic fairy tale Cinderella. The young woman Cinduri is overburdened with work from her stepmother and stepsister, and receives barely enough to eat in return. But Godfather Snake learns of her troubles and helps her attend the village's annual Navaratri Festival dressed in the most beautiful golden-threaded sari and diamond anklets, and there she wins the heart of the Prince. A captivating picture book story commendably written by Lila Mehta, deftly adapted by Meredith Brucker, and wondrously illustrated in full color by Youshan Tang, Anklet For A Princess would make a welcome and popular addition to any school or community library picture book collection.