India
"This book is a compelling epic of cultures and conquest, colonization and independence. It vividly re-creates the turning points of Indian history and brings to life the leaders who shaped India's evolution, from Ashoka, the "Caesar of Ancient India," who ruled the vast Mauryan empire in the third century B.C., to twentieth-century figures such as Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. Along the way Keay provides fresh insights into the patterns of invasion and migration that have stirred the subcontinent's cultures for centuries, from the "Aryan" invaders, to Alexander's Macedonian armies, to the Islamic conquerors, to the coming of the East India Company and the establishment of the British Raj. He also profiles the rise of religions and philosophies that have profoundly shaped these cultures, including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam.". "Throughout the book Keay synthesizes recent revelations from archaeology, anthropology, and textual scholarship to explode the myths that have plagued the highly politicized historiography of the region. He investigates the controversy surrounding the origins of the Harappan peoples who built the first cities of the subcontinent, explains the cultural and political significance of India's architectural marvels such as the Taj Mahal, and details the bloody suppressions that characterized the "Pax Britannica" of the Raj."--BOOK JACKET.
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6recommend
6mentions
6people
2012–2026years
100% recommend
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What Hacker News says
- Yes, Frankopan's Silk Roads was a disappointment to say the least, I was really expecting an enlightening history of the middle east, starting from the early interrelations between the various civilisations (Egypt, Babylon, Harappan) and the progression through time (for example mentioning the Periplus of Roman adventurers into the far east). Good histories of China (Goldman/Fairbanks), and India (Keay) had whetted my appetite, and I think I'll need to read Dalrymple to be fully sated.
- India: A History, by John Keay
- "Freedom at midnight" is a very well written book that describes the scenes a couple of years before and upto the freedom in 1947.
The way the french author duo paint the then lifestyle of the Britishers, the kings and the common man left me satisfied.
Currently I'm slow reading "India - A History" by John Keay. Another well written book.
- Many here seem to misunderstand the article as an expression of what is best, of some normative preference. Stratfor is describing what they think is the long-term (i.e., over generations) fate, in a way, of nations, based on a framework they embrace, geopolitics. I'm no expert, but here is my amateur understanding, undoubtedly flawed, from many years of reading this kind of material:
Humans long have tried to develop theories that predict the behavior of nations and its outcomes. It's perhaps the most important question to ask, with the survival, prosperity, and freedom of billions at stake. But it's a very difficult model to build, based on billions of human decisions and many other factors, including geography.
One well-established theory (though I don't know how popular among experts currently) is that geography, including climate, ultimately is a powerful factor determining the fate of nations. For example, a nation without arable land inevitably will have a small population and everything that follows from that: A small economy, a weak military, etc. Some real-world examples: Probably the biggest factor in Britain's survival in WWII was that they had a body of water between them and the German army; if they had switched geographies with the French, the results would have been much different. The U.S.'s WWII success and eventual post-war primacy was mostly because oceans separated the country from its enemies, providing an unmolested homeland, economy and manufacturing of war goods. The geography of Ukraine is easily traversed by large armies, leading to Russia being invaded through Ukraine many times over history (Napoleon and the Nazis come to mind); that is a big reason they want to control Ukraine. Russia's lack of access to the Mediterranean and Atlantic has greatly limited their naval power and thus their influence in Europe; that's why they care so much about Crimea and Syria, where they have naval bases with access to the Mediterranean. China's land borders are the Himalayas, other mountains and deserts, and poor areas such as Central Asia and Siberia; thus their trade is highly dependent on sea routes, resulting in their current actions to control the South China Sea. Overall, the regions of influence China tries to claim now is the same as when the Qing dynasty was ascendant in the 17th and 18th centuries - everything else changes, but geography stays the same.
Wrote one historian: If time is the locomotion of history, place could be the gradient against which it is pitted. Dynamic, the one hurtles forward; inert, the other holds it back.[1]
How these issues play out is another matter. China could resolve it's South China Sea concerns via multilateral agreements, or through military aggression. Also, there are other theories, including realism and constructivism.
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[1] John Keay, in India: A History. Keay is not a credentialed academic historian but has written respected surveys of history; I don't know how well his theory ultimately holds water, but it's the best expression of the issue I've seen.
- India: A History. Revised and Updated by John Keay
Url : http://www.amazon.com/India-A-History-Revised-Updated/dp/080...
- Also, for anyone interested in an academic, objective, inclusive and yet thoroughly fascinating summary of Indian history, I highly recommend "India: A History" by John Keay (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Keay)
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