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Title: A Concise History of India by Barbara D. Metcalf, Thomas R. Metcalf ISBN: 0-521-63974-3 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $22.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 2.6 (5 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Two lovers and a naughty-bore of a child
Comment: The Metcalf's have produced a book rich in factoids, post-colonial sentimentalism, and wretched prose. Clearly, the authors had good intentions in terms of contriving a history that implored us to mock the sunny empire. However, instead of focusing on their keen ehtical duty to educate against empire, they should have considered the horror that comes with mirthless prose and inevitable colonization of any passionate interest the reader ever had.
Rating: 2
Summary: Refreshing in its correction of bias, but indigestible
Comment: Most of the concise histories of India commonly assigned to students, such as those by John Keay and by Kulke and Rothermund, have been accused of having to Eurocentric a bias. The Metcalfs, professors at the UCalifornia schools, remedy this slant in their new CONCISE HISTORY OF INDIA by stacking the deck against European colonialism. While this is welcome, it is not without cost. The greatest, perhaps, is that the Metcalfs often seem to great length to vilify some figures or parties while at pains elsewhere to vindicate others . While their biases are understandable (even ones with which I basically agree), this does not make for the most balanced or objective of histories.
More worrying is their utter dryness of tone: it would be hard to imagine anyone being introduced to India (presumably the book's target audience) finding this book anything other than a painful chore. key figures or concepts are introduced basically offhand, then circled back to discuss in greater length much later when you've forgotten who or what they were; very minor figures from the nation's history or culture are often brought forth to comment on the events, but the authors do not clarify whether these commentators are important or central or not. There are good maps, and a useful beginning glossary, but I would have to recommend John Keay's book (for all its European bias) as a much more readable introduction to India than this one.
Rating: 2
Summary: There is nothing remotely "concise" about this book!
Comment: I am very interested in learning about India and Indian Culture, as I am planning to marry an Indian man who was born and raised in Bombay, however my fiance is extremely Westernized and would love to live in the United Sates as well as India. In fact, he loves Hollywood Blockbuster movies, while I actually prefer foreign films. Anyway, as I may end up living in Bombay someday, I wanted familiarize myself wih the history of the country and culture of the people. While the authors of this particular book are obviously very well educated and experts on the subject, the content of the material is written in such a dry, unimaginative manner that I have pretty much given up on finishing it. It seems hard to believe that book written about a country with such a vibrant, colorful past could be so boring! For a person such as myself who really needed to start from the basics, this book was much too detailed and academic to hold my interest. However, I am sure other professors and those people who are more familiar with the subject matter may find this book of great use to them. Needless to say, I was disappointed with it, as it wasn't quite what I was looking for in reading material regarding this particular subject.
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Title: Plain Tales from the Raj by Charles Allen ISBN: 0030058627 Publisher: Henry Holt & Company, Inc. Pub. Date: October, 1985 List Price(USD): $4.98 |
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Title: Sources of Indian Tradition by Stephen Hay ISBN: 0231064152 Publisher: Columbia University Press Pub. Date: 15 April, 1988 List Price(USD): $28.50 |
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Title: Castes of Mind: Colonialism and the Making of Modern India. by Nicholas B. Dirks ISBN: 0691088950 Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr Pub. Date: 01 November, 2001 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Indian Tales of the Raj by Zareer Masani ISBN: 0520071271 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: November, 1990 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: Gandhi An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments With Truth by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Mahadev Desai, Sissela Bok ISBN: 0807059099 Publisher: Beacon Press Pub. Date: 01 November, 1993 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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