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Title: India: A History by John Keay ISBN: 0-8021-3797-0 Publisher: Grove Press Pub. Date: 10 May, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.83 (30 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: A critical overview of John Keay's book, India
Comment: While John Keay does a decent job in trying to piece together a plethora of difficult historical facts that constitute what he claims to be the "history" of India, he misses the mark on many occasions, and despite his subtle claims to the contrary, he fails to extricate himself from classic Euro-centricism. Given his predisposition to this myopic viewpoint, he misses several opportunities to soar to higher heights. For example, he claims that the Vedic scripture written in Sanskrit has no mention of the elephant, and he uses this rather trivial fact to support the claim that Aryans must have therefore migrated into the Indian subcontinent. He also provides clues as to why he thinks the epic Ramayana occured and/or was written after the great epic The Mahabharata. Now, the Mahabharata is full of mention of elephants but the Ramayana has no mention of it...so by his own rationale the Ramayana should predate the Mahabharata. Additionally, he overlooks the Vedic god Indra's vaahana or "vehicle". It is Airaavata, a white elephant! John also makes the classic error of "defining" India as the land south of the Hindu Kush, which is a grave error, but not uncommon to the Euro-centric mind. In fact Vedic civilization and its progenitor, the Tantric civiliation, was not confined to the "sub"-continent. He dismisses casually as "memory loss" the glaring fact that there is no mention or memory of Aryans migrating into India either in their Vedic scriptures or in the collective memories of the "conquored" Dravidians. Rudradaman, for example is claimed to be a "non-Indian" in this book and the author frequently makes annoying remarks about "foreigners" conquoring India... something that is totally unnecessary in an otherwise well organized book. Perhaps it could be related to his leanings to Dr. Kosambi, a scholar who is nonetheless an ardent critic of the Vedas. The author TOTAALLY neglects the possibility that the Aryans could have migrated OUT of India into the "heathen" Sumerian and Egyptian worlds. Net, the book a fair attempt to pigion-hole India into neat little cubby holes, much like attempts in the past. I believe this book will attract lukewarm respect by scholars in India.
Rating: 5
Summary: India's Magnificent Sweeping Epic
Comment: India is one of the world's oldest civilizations. John Keay focuses on the centuries after the arrival of the Europeans and British and the social effects of foreign influence.
He begins the book in 3000 B.C., then parallels the Aryan invasion and moves through Indian history and sweeps through British rule with critical accounts of British government that are deeply moving and revealing. This book is definitely no apology for British rule. He demonstrates industrial deforestation of India by the British and the social consequences of this and other enviromental and economic actions.
He continues on through Ghandi into the modern period and the difficulties of government and leadership in the post-Ghandi period.
The books is written with great scholarship, although Mr. Keay's opinions dominate throughout. This books is definitely seen through the author's eyes and is perhaps, less objective than this reader desires, yet the thrilling perspective and colorful sequence of Indian history race through the reader's mind, with clear and beautifully written prose.
Highly recommended for general reading. If someone desires greater scholarship, one must go to more specific references, however this is the finest general history of India that I have yet read. In fact, I cannot put the book down.
Rating: 2
Summary: India: Who Ruled Where and When
Comment: This is a great book for a very specific audience. If you are looking for a book that will give a detailed account of which dynasties ruled which parts of India during which times, this is a wonderful and thorough history.
However, if you are a reader looking for a rich history of India and her people, this is a dry and empty read. Keay has a tendency to simply march through dynasties, giving the reader little clue as to what distinguished one from another, except the area of the subcontinent from which they hailed. One example is his rather frustrating habit of referring obliquely to amusing yet apocryphal tales, and then not telling the actual story. These stories must be told, even if their veracity is uncertain. This is what would make the rest of the history worth reading to a person not deeply involved with pre-modern South Asian history.
Keay's prose is competent, but not particularly engaging. I suspect his style is more appealing to Britons than American readers.
The bottom line: There is a great need for a thorough, rich, and readable history of India. This book does not fill that void.
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Title: India Unbound : The Social and Economic Revolution from Independence to the Global InformationAge by Gurcharan Das ISBN: 0385720742 Publisher: Anchor Pub. Date: 09 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: A New History of India by Stanley A. Wolpert ISBN: 019512877X Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: November, 1999 List Price(USD): $34.95 |
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Title: India: Emerging Power by Stephen Philip Cohen ISBN: 0815715013 Publisher: The Brookings Institution Pub. Date: 01 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: A History of India by Romila Thapar ISBN: 0140138358 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: December, 1990 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: Raj : The Making and Unmaking of British India by Lawrence James ISBN: 0312263821 Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin Pub. Date: 12 August, 2000 List Price(USD): $22.95 |
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