The Feast of the Sorcerer: Practices of Consciousness and Power Book

This is an excellent introduction to the complex cultures of India from Neolithic times to now. If that seems rather a broad chronological sweep, it is, which makes it rather an impressive achievement for two authors to have achieved. To have updated it over five editions and retain the usefulness of the writing is doubly impressive. Crossing many academic fields, this survey gives a good general idea of the sweep of Indian history in a readable and erudite text that was useful, certainly, to this beginner.

This is a topic to which I feel a special affinity, since my mother's side of the family were among the last generation of British presence in India, so I grew up with stories of those last days of the Raj as well of Gandhi in my ears. That probably led me to an interest in Roman contact with India in grad school, so I've had some familiarity with the history of India before this book. It was, however, a pleasure to get more detail and a broader picture. The authors demonstrate a strong understanding of the culture and, usually, maintain a balanced tone throughout. There is a tendency to favour the Congress in the post-independence narrative which gets increasingly political as we move closer to our era. However, that doesn't detract from the soundness of the discussion.

This is an excellent introduction to the history and culture of India and well worth reading.