A history of India - Burton Stein

This history provides an original, succinct but sustained narrative of the development of Indian society, culture and polity from 7000 BC to the present. It throws new light on past and currently vexing questions, and relates contemporary India, with its promise and its problems, to a rich and varied past.

The text is informed throughout by Professor Stein's personal vision and, in particular, his special interests in political and social development and the oft–neglected South.

The book opens with an outline of the main argument. The author introduces his major themes, showing the interactions and tensions in Indian history between communities and states, between cultures and politics, and between the region and the outside world. The narrative which follows incorporates critically the accumulated findings of recent research on the whole range of Indian history and prehistory, considering the nature of premodern as well as contemporary politics, and examines the origins and consequences of the Mughal and British conquests as well as controversial recent issues, such as India's national integrity, its commitments to secularism and to improving the condition of women.

The author's insights reveal an in–depth understanding of India's current problems and possibilities as it moves into its second half–century of independence. Illustrated with maps and photographs, and containing chronologies and a guide to further reading, A History of India will be valued for its vivid narrative and trenchant analysis.