You really can't make it all over Indonesia to go diving witout a lot of time and money so the book covers a lot of territory. They do have good diving stories in general, beautiful color photos and quality maps. I intend to buy the Asia's Top Dive Sites because this book is so good.

A very compelling read, this book by Shashi Tharoor is a collection of short stories written by the author in his teens and early 20s.This book is a beautiful collection of writings by Tharoor before the well-known "The Great Indian Novel" and is in a different genre from the author's other books.

Each story starts with a note by the author disussing the mindset in which the story was written, and the age at which he wrote it, thus giving the reader a better insight into the story.

The stories are diverse in nature and use the backdrop of India to give the reader a view of the country and the people from a youth's point of view. The title story is a sensitive portrayal of an orphan who is the face on the poster of a fund-raiser campaign for the orphanage. "The boutique" is another touching story revealing the discrimination that soceity imposes on its classes and its impact on a young boy.

The stories in this book impress with their simplicity and subtleness. Most of all, it brought back memories of youth in me. A book I enjoyed immensely!

We have spent the last week or so exploring Goa. The Goa Handbook has certainly allowed us to get to places that we would not have got to. For example we spent a night at the excellent Tirecol Heritage Hotel. This is in an old Portuguese Fort right in the north of teh state and only reachable by crossing two major rivers by ferry. Very atmospheric and excellent value. Also accurately desribed were the sites of Old Goa and the fantactically guady but very touristy Anjuna market.

The Indian National Army, and its operations with the Japanese in the Burma theatre of operations during World War II, was long a controversial subject between Indians and British, and generally regarded with curmudgeonly disapproval by the British. The fact is that the issue of collaboration was probably more complicated in the Asia-Pacific theatre than it was in the European theatre. Experiencing the colonial rule of the British, French, and Dutch, many Burmese, Malays, Vietnamese, Sumatrans and Javanese saw the Japanese as colonial liberators. Even in the Philippines, under an allegedly benign American rule, much of the legislature stayed on to work under the Japanese. The Germans, of course, used peoples like the Lithuanians and Ukrainians in order to carry out the "Final Solution", but the situation was somewhat different. Asian nationalists struggling for independence, largely along lines laid for them by Western educations, found themselves betrayed by Western colonial empires who were committed to holding on at all cost (or so they thought until 1942). Fay's book provides a case study of one of the most famous (or notorious) instances of collaboration in the Asia-Pacific theatre. He examines the history of the Indian National Army (derogatorily referred to by the British as "JIFs"--Japanese Indian Forces) through an INA perspective, specifically in interviews with Prem and Lakshmi Sahgal, a husband and wife who found themselves in Singapore in 1942 when the British surrendered to the Japanese--Prem as a captured officer, and Lakshmi as a doctor. Both, disillusioned and fed up with years of British promises of independence that grew consciously or unconsciously caught up in red tape and official footdragging, decided to join the Japanese-affiliated force of Indian soldiers that would reclaim India for the Indians. The rest of the story should be read through their words, providing a much needed other side to the story of the Indian struggle for independence.

Much of Indian history has been distorted or subverted by BOTH Western and Indian academics. By doing a thorough analysis of Vedas compared/contrasted with Puranas, Dr. P.L. Bhargava has painted an accurate picture of Ancient Indian history with his description of 10 Great Indians before the time of Gautama Siddhartha ("Buddha"; 624-544 B.C.E.)...

The author is a very talented writer. I am not just saying that because I know him. The book made me think about surviving in war and how hard it must have been to be in war

'From the Caves and Jungles of Hindostan' offers an intrigueing travelogue through nineteenth century India revealing a culture whose uncanny developments in the metaphysics of mind in the material world are today shedding light upon far reaching intuitions. The way Blavatsky reveals India without the fogs of mysticism but through an insightful first-person narritive makes this an exellent introduction and captivating look into the exotic world of Hindustan. It's truly adventuresome and fascinating. For anyone looking into the anthropology of ancient and modern India this book will prove insightful, or for those looking to escape into an exciting travelogue. Blavatsky and her traveling companions are both intellectual and charming. I've had this book for a number of years and I continuously comeback to it for its wonderful wealth of thought and adventure.

The part I liked was when the girl had a dream that could make anyone invisible. She got scared when she thought her brother went invisible.Then she begged for him to come back.He was really hiding on the wall. His sister was glad but she still wanted to make him invisible.

Beautifully written, rich stories that take place in India.

Indian writers are hot right now, but no one comes close to Desai's fine blend of realism and romance. A child of a German and an Indian, Desai probably is able to synthesize a cultural viewpoint all her own. Her unique (often satirical, always witty) eye sees much, and her writing is a bafflingly brilliant mix of poetry and economy.

Not a bad story in the batch... you'll want to read them again and again!

This is a very great book on all the troubles Gandhi experienced in South Africa. One incident is when Gandhi is thrown out of a train for sitting in the whites only section. Gandhi acts upon these problems and makes a definite difference to apartheid in South Africa. I thoroughly enjoyed this book because it showed me the horrible prejudices that occur in South Africa. It also gave me a clearer sense of what South Africa is really about.