It’s now the most populous country in the world and well poised to make a significant impact on the world of the 21st century. But what is India all about?

In India: A History, John Keay attempts to lay out what we can know about the history of subcontinental Asia.

The whole enterprise remains fraught with difficulties. How to define “India” is one of them: the British raj was about the only time the whole subcontinent was under a single authority. The author goes with a “greater India” and lays out the history of the whole subcontinent: modern day Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh.

Another challenge is historical records: we might imagine there would be all kinds of records of exploits, but if they ever existed, most have been lost. We prove dependent on a few historical inscriptions which have been preserved as well as archaeological discoveries and myths and legends. And, of course, Indian history is fraught with all kinds of issues in terms of Hindu nationalism.

The author well negotiates these difficulties to present as thorough as a history of the subcontinent as is practicable. He describes what we know about the Indus Valley Civilization (IVC), the entrance of the “aryans” of the Vedas, what can be known about the development of various kingdoms in the first millennium BCE, the Buddha and the development of Buddhism, the Maurya period, interaction with the West, the Gupta period, the various kingdoms in the period immediately after the Guptas in the first millennium CE, and then the long interactions/engagements/wars between various Muslim powers and native Indian kingdoms, all of which lead up to the Mughals and the British Raj.

The history can take on much more details with the Mughals, the British, and the subcontinent after Partition.

This book is quite useful in order to better understand why the subcontinent is as it is and how its societies and cultures have developed. Highly recommended. ( )

Much of the middle sections of this book become overwhelming in the detail of multiple dynasties over time, further complicated by the geographical splintering of pre-"modern" India. Of course, this is unavoidable in a single-volume history as comprehensive as this, and a rereading could be worthwhile after one has read some more specific histories.

My one quarrel, which another reviewer has noted, is the inadequacy of the maps. Although quite numerous, they do not always have the detail needed to match the text.

Be sure to get the second edition (available in paperback only, unfortunately) because it includes substantial additional chapters on post-independence India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. ( )

Exhaustive, and somewhat exhausting too, but a very interesting look at an important country and area from pre-history until recent times. While there is no way I will retain much of this, some will stick and it was definitely worth reading. ( )

This is an excellent history of India. I found it exciting, and so I was surprised that some people found it to be dry. It is detailed indeed, and there is so much to be discovered.

John Keay has done us a great service by laying out the book in sections age wise, which makes the history easy to follow. The history of the country has been extremely turbulent, with shifting borders, loyalties and influences. It can be bewildering, and the manner in which the book has been written and laid out makes it easy to follow.

It is well written, and I can only but recommend it to people who want to know about India. ( )

The material is too large for a single volume, although the author has done justice to the history of the subcontinent without any notable omissions (as Nehruvian history books are wont to do). ( )