Customer Reviews:
 Potentially great booked ruined by inaccuracies May 16, 2008
Had this book not been riddled with errors - factual and typos - I would have given it 5 stars. As a basic overview of contempory India, it offers a smart, readily accessible assessment - perfect for anyone planning to visit the country who might want to engage in more than the Goan beaches. However... the errors are rife. Every time I picked up the book I would find something new. Preposterously, for example, the book claims in one section that Kangchenjunga is in Jammu and Kashmir - a thousand miles away from its actual location in Nepal. Such frequent mistakes mean that it's very hard to trust any of the information as you can never be certain of basic accuracy.
 great book and straight to the point February 4, 2008
I agree with the previous review, most books I've read have a certain slant on India and hence are skewed, however I felt this was independent. This book starts well and maps out a brief history of India with more detail about the political history (but not to bore the reader.) It then progresses to talk about the currently climate in all aspects and how India in progressing. I enjoyed this book and managed to read in two days, it's 200 odd pages. It gives the reader a good brief understanding of India past and present and will lead me on to reading more books that were recommended in the references.
 If you've only got time to read one book about India make it this November 3, 2007
I haven't got time to read lots of books on one subject and one problem I find is that most books are written from a particular perspective, with an argument to make or a drum to bang. Consequently they make everything fit their theory. What I want are the facts, served up to me in a accessible interesting way, so that I can form my own opinions. John Fardnon has done the same excellent job here as he did in his book on Iran. Of course, no author is totally without an agenda or point of view but the attempt at presenting all sides of the argument in this book is appreciated.
If you want the facts in an accessible form, this is the book on India for you.
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