India

Rating:
Summary: good introduction
Review: having been to India before, Wolpert's book helped to give me a better prospective of the country. Wolpert gives information into the important aspects of the country like the environment, early history, religion and philosophy, society, arts/sciences, and polity/foreign policy. The book is easy to read and gives good information into aspects of india like the caste system, foreign policy after independence (its 5-year plans, Kashmir...) and India under British rule.

Rating:
Summary: Decent book.
Review: This books presents an unique way of looking at India as a whole. It does include biases, but the piece is not drenched in such informations. The Aryans DID come into India from Central Asia, despite what these other [people] who state otherwise. There is a strong amount of evidence. I suggest Hinduism books by David R. Kinsley and Indian Historical books by John Keay. They are highly UNBIASED.

Rating:
Summary: Good Introduction
Review: Those of you looking for FAIR reviews of this book should ignore any criticism related to Wolpert's characterization of Aryan influence in India. Unfortunately, some people choose to believe some random coincidences rather than scientific facts. As of now, scientific evidence shows that the Aryans decended from Causia, travelled through Persia, and then ended up in India. Although facts are still being uncovered (due to recent excavations of the Harappian civilization), right now Wolpert is explaining the current view of most historians (only recent evidence has pointed to the contrary, and most of it is unsubstantiated).

It has NOTHING to do whether the historian is Hindu or not (even most Indian historians accept the Aryans coming from Caucasia). Wolpert has dedicated his whole life to the study of India, and has shown his knowledge and expertise in his other great work, "A New History of India".

Rather, one need look only at Wolpert's excellent storytelling abilities and strong writing skills to understand this book. The book is very well done. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to get an introduction of India. Of course, this is only a introductory book, and should be taken as such.