This new edition brings Stanley Wolpert's brilliantly succinct and accessible introduction to India completely up to date for a new generation of readers, travelers, and students. In crisp detail, Wolpert gives a panoramic overview of the continent on which the world's most fascinating ancient civilization gave birth to one of its most complex modern democratic nations. India now includes new sections on the country's current global economic development, the recent national elections, and on its international relations, including those with Pakistan, China, Sri Lanka, and the United States, India's new strategic global partner.
India, 4th Edition
About the Book
Reviews
“Wolpert is a masterful storyteller. . . . The work reflects [his] wisdom and global vision.”—Journal of Contemporary AsiaPraise for previous editions:
“Wolpert understands India. . . . . Fluent, wide-ranging and often wise, this volume is a useful addition to a shelf of books on India.”—Washington Post Book World
“A superb distillation of a lifetime's learning by UCLA's great historian of India. Refreshingly concrete and detailed, [and] vibrantly written, Wolpert's overview repeatedly succeeds at explaining a culture that gave us little things like the decimal system, chess, cotton cloth, meditation, and two religions called Buddhism and Hinduism.”—Philadelphia Inquirer
“If one were to read a single book about India in a lifetime, this should be it.”—Library Journal
“To all of us who delightedly and sometimes repetitively call ourselves Old India hands, Stanley Wolpert is the acknowledged authority. This book tells why. Indian history, art, culture, and contemporary politics are here in accurate, wide-ranging, and lucid prose."—John Kenneth Galbraith
Table of Contents
Preface to the 2009 Edition
1. The Environment
The River
Heat
Monsoon Rains
Mountain Walls
2. Historical Prologue
Pre-Aryan Urbanization
Aryan Conquests and Emerging Synthesis
Ancient Imperial Unification and Its Limits
Islamic Conquests
Westernization and Modernization
Young India's Revolutions and Reforms
The Impact of Mahatma Gandhi
3. Religion and Philosophy
Yoga and Shaivism
Mother Goddess Worship
Nonviolent Buddhism and Jainism
Laws of Action and Reincarnation
Devotional Vaishnavism
Higher Hindu Philosophy
Islam in India
Sikhism
Modernist Religious Movements
4. Society
Caste and Class
Untouchability
The Family
Roles of Women
Village Life
The Urban Revolution
5. Arts and Sciences
Dance, Drama, and Music
Worship in Bronze and Stone
Caves, Temple and Regal Art, and Architecture
The Art of Literature
Scientific Contributions
6. Polity and Foreign Policy
Kingship and Democracy
Economic Planning and Development
Foreign Policy
Indo-U.S. Relations
Indo-Pak Relations
Sino-Indian Relations
Indo-Sri Lankan Relations
Afghanistan
The Future
Notes
Suggested Additional Reading
Index