India Books

I am in the process of answering a questionnaire asking, if I could recommend one book to someone to read, what book would it be?

I came on this site to check the spelling of the full name of this book.

I love this book.

A collection of interwoven tales told from the perspective of the different residents of Ferozsha Baag, an apartment building in Bombay. All the stories are good; some are outstanding. In particular, the story of the son who emigrates to Canada to become a writer has a uniquely autobiographical feel to it. =)

I read A Fine Balance about a year ago and loved it. I just finished Swimming Lessons and I'm going out to buy Family Matters right now. He writes so beautifully and descriptively that you feel that you lived alongside the characters in his books.He's my favorite author right now.

"Swimming Lessons", a short story collection, may be Mistry's earliest published work. He of course wrote the awesome "A Fine Balance", a panoramic look at life in India circa 1975. "Lessons" is set in about the same time period and chronicles the life experiences of middle-class Indians from a particular apartment complex. Major characters in one story show up as minor characters in other stories, giving the book a novelistic feel. Emigration, experienced directly by Mistry in his early 20's as he moved to Canada, is a major theme of the book. The story "Squatters", contains a "story inside the story" that affect your thinking about the trials of emigration (as it relates to bodily functions) for a long time. Those who know Mistry will enjoy this look at his early writing. Newcomers to Mistry might enjoy the short story form as an intro before tackling the epic "A Fine Balance."

And I thought that "A Fine Balance" was Rohinton's best! Yet again, I find myself speechless in my admiration for his astute command of language. His precise and inventive prose never quits until he has portrayed an image in sentences. Images that I grew up with myself but never quite would have thought of expressing in the grippingly sensitive way he can.

Swimming Lessons is a collection of such reminiscences from the author's childhood in a Parsi neighborhood in suburban middle-class Bombay. The setting itself may be confined to a particular community, but his compassionate brush carves such a wide sweep of the minutest of human emotions that the sheer force of this book is not in its plot or setting, but in its recognition of the universal bounty of life.

Our quirky residents of 'Firozsha Baag' have every reason to be disconcerted and baffled with their difficult lives. The walls of their building complex are coming apart. Washroom flushes don't work. One family has the refrigerator that's shared by the entire colony, and another has the common telephone. Their lives are marred by simple everyday things, innocent infatuations, unconfessed fantasies, fatal jealousies, neighborhood bullies, petty thefts, memory lapses, shared newspapers, cultural/generational clashes, etc etc.

Yet, beneath this veneer of this seeming hardships glimmers a subtle undercurrent of hope and happiness, of a bond that does not need expressing in the common social forms.

The high praise that Mistry has garnered is not exaggerated. The man has a disarming sense of humor and a lingering sense of what makes literature great. I laughed, I cried, I sat back and pondered. I was especially stirred by the moving story "Of White Hairs and Cricket", and the cover story, which is saved for the last, "Swimming Pools."

Couldn't recommend this brilliant compilation highly enough. It hardly reads like a debut.

With over 100 cookbooks in my collection, I no longer buy books just for a collection of recipes. I want interesting information about culinary traditions, etc. and this book has all of that. It has a great overview of Indian regional cooking, lovely pictures, and good illustrative recipes besides. Serious gourmets will *not* be disappointed.

This is a great book - not only are the recipes superb and quite distinctive, but Madhur Jaffrey writes about the food with such passion and feeling that it just makes you want to cook. When she describes a dish as one "I love with a passion" you can be sure that it will not disappoint. For cooks trying out Indian food for the first time, following her recipes precisely can almost guarantee an Indian meal that will earn rave reviews from friends and family.

Madhur Jaffrey's book is both beautiful and informative. It includes sections of elegant prose accompanied by gorgoeus photos that describe the cuisine in different regions of India. This is what makes the book worthwhile-- it teaches you a great deal about the variety and splendour of a cuisine that is insuffiecintly represented in the United States. However, I find the recipes themselves a little less useful. They are very, very heavy on added oil (I made the Moghlai chicken the other day and it called for 1 whole stick of butter and 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil.) and not that heavy on flavor. I find myself wondering if Jaffrey has toned down the spiciness for a Western audience. Though the information in the book is quite welcome I think that more modern, fusion approaches to Indian cuisine are healthier and more relevant (see The Bold Vegetarian by Bharti Kirchner).

This is a book that was given to me some years ago when I was in India. It is not just a cook book but it conveys a picture of India. The book is broken into sections based on India's main regions. Each chapter has magnificent photo's of those regions and a text which describes the cuisine.

Each region then has a series of recipes that are famous. Most Indian cookery books tend to show how to cook the sorts of things that you get in Indian restaurants. Chicken Tandoori, Rogan Josh and so forth. This book has recipes which I have never come across before and most of them are interesting and delightful. A lot of them use a limited range of spices and depend on the mixture of their ingredients to develop subtle and interesting flavors. One recipe that was a revelation was an eggplant (aubergine) dish which was cooked and served cold with a yogurt sauce.

I live with a vegetarian and one of the reasons I enjoy such cook books are the variety of vegetarian foods that they contain. This book is by no means devoted to vegetarian food but it contains many such recipes.

The recipes are in text form but they are easy to follow. If something unusual has to be done such as the preparation of tamarind, the author explains how to do it in a clear and simple way.

Some cook books are things that you have on the shelf simply to prepare food. This book is a little more and gives you a feel for the county which has provided the recipes.

1. It is a good cook book, with beautiful recipies that work. 2. The food is presented in context in which it is eaten in India. 3. This is like a travelogue of India through its food. So if you like India, travel, food, cooking or books about cooking food in different parts of India, then this is the book for you.

As a longtime seeker of enlightenment, I've read many a book that promised guidance. And I've received a fair share. But this book has come into my life at a crucial time and seems, more than others before it, equal to the task. It provides a simple and effective--I didn't say "easy"-- method for attaining bliss by teaching a two-question process. The first question brings one's present reality into focus; the second gives one a "leg up" on accepting that reality.

When I read a book that thoroughly meets my needs, as now, I don't pretend to be impartial or a careful critic. In fact, I want to say that the writing is exquisite, but don't know how much my pleasure in the book's content informs that opinion.

If timing is everything, and I believe it is, then my wish for you, reading this review, is to share my good fortune. May you meet this book with an open heart, letting the gift of its message march in.

Unconditional Bliss came into my hands during a devastating breakup. I needed what most self-help books, with their bright covers and promises, never gave me: specific strategies for handling moments of crisis. With great gentleness and humor, Howard Raphael Cushnir asks the reader to study the way he or she feels joy or grief, to see how breathing and self-talk affect that process. The way he does this showed me tools I had never before recognized, and what I learned from using them changed my life. I recommend this book with all my heart.

In this little book you might find some answers.It gives you a simple method to cultivate awareness.And even more,it gives you one method that WORKS for dealing with emotional pain as it happens.

This book is such a gift. I went through incredible changes and tragedies in my life this past year, and now towards the end of all the chaos, this book has given me the balance and understanding I needed. It teaches us to accept what is happening, and to understand that we can live in the moment and not stress about what will happen. Thank you to the author - this book is truly exceptional.

Cushnir begins by explaining how he came to experience the rejection and finally, his acceptance of bliss. He writes in a friendly tone that helps you understand how living the questions can promote an abundance of profound results in your life.

Living the questions teaches you to stay in the "now". When faced with difficult situations, you invoke this two-step process that takes you to a place of internal focus where you feel and experience what's going on "now". Cushnir gives real-life examples to help you clearly understand the experience of bliss and how to use the process to keep you focused in the "now".

Cushnir believes that everyone has experienced this profound state of consciousness and explains how we have been trained to reject this mystery of life.

Cushnir divides Bliss into four sections: Terms of Service is an orientation to his perspective and development of the book. Basic Bliss, provides a foundation for the questions and examples to put them to use. Advanced Bliss, clarifies questions about the state of bliss and the process to achieve and remain in the "now". The fourth and final section, Beyond Bliss, examines how living the questions gives you tools to transform your life-perspective and tune in to the ups and downs each of us experiences.

reviewed by Robert Moore

I like this book a lot, I have made quite a few of the receipes so far

Despite its small size, this book is packed with information beyond the 50 recipies mentioned in the title. It spends a lot of time covering the spices and ingredients used in Indian curries, complete with pictures, description of their flavours and properties and how to best use them. Very useful if you want to improvise and experiment. It also discusses the philosophy of Indian cuisine and how to plan and serve an Indian meal.

After a very informative introduction we come to the recipes. The recipes cover all of India and offer a great insight into the wide variety of curries made. Every recipe I have made has turned out amazingly rich in both flavour and texture. Each recipe is also accompanied by a photo so you know what the final result is supposed to look like.

So in summary if you want to learn how to make a wide variety of amazing curries and about the ideas and flavours of Indian cooking, this is the book to get.

I love to cook Indian food and I bought this book after borrowing a copy from a friend and deciding I couldn't live without it! There is a whole section covering herbs and spices, with descriptions, their uses and photographs. Recipes are easy to follow, and the book has a wide range of dishes for all tastes. Most recipes are photographed - an attractive book to have.

i almost gave up on making curries mainly in part to this book. i only kept it for the rice and accompaniments section at the back of the book. my major gripes were

1. this book says to whisk yogurt, it never works just whisked, pretty much all indian chefs add flour or for a more authentic taste powdered dhal to thicken so that it does not split when cooking

2. when the book says to add water at the end of the cooking of onions and spices, the amounts made for a very watery weak flavoured gravy as liquid was also being added from the meat, so halving or even thirding this makes it work much better

if you address these 2 areas you can end up with a very nice book, the madras style curry and the meat cooked with cardamon being standouts.

I own at least ten Indian cookbooks, so you wouldn't expect that I needed to add another to the collection. But I'm extremely glad that I bought 50 Curries of India. It has many recipes that I haven't previously encountered... and which, so far, are really wonderful.

As the title promises, the book has 50 curry recipes... as well as several accompaniments (such as bread, rice, and raita) and a 60 page introductory section on ingredients. There's quite a selection here, in main ingredient (lamb, fish, chicken, vegetables), region, spiciness, etc. Twenty of the recipes call for lamb, 11 for chicken, 9 fish and shellfish, 12 vegetarian (from potato curry to, of all things, watermelon and mango curries).

Nothing calls for beef or pork, but I think most of the lamb dishes could be prepared with them. We dislike lamb, so at our house the lamb and apricot curry is more likely to use inauthentic pork, and bori curry (with nuts, sesame seeds, tamarind and potatoes) will probably be made with beef.

Every dish has an attractive photo, so you have some idea what you'll end up with. While many recipes have a long list of ingredients, none is particularly hard -- assuming that you can get your hands on the spices. If you have a spice shop or Internet store from which you can buy black mustard seeds, curry leaves, and tamarind you'll be set. But there's plenty to cook if you're stuck with the selection in your local grocery store. Most are strongly spiced, but not all are exceptionally "hot." These aren't fast recipes, but *darn* they're good -- and most curries reheat very well; they're stews, after all.

The curries in this book are from the British Indian community rather than an American idea of Indian food. I've found that most U.S. Indian restaurants are surprisingly limited in the list of dishes offered, rather distressingly so. I suspect that our cultural relationship to Indian food is like the Italian-American restaurant experience of the 1950s (meatballs and spaghetti, pizza, and not much else). But India is a huge country with distinct regional differences, and this book really shows both breadth and depth. Several recipes incorporate coconut, for example, or mustard seeds or curry leaves. You'll find the "expected" chicken tikka masala, or something very like it, but among the things I appreciate about this book is that it has plenty of recipes that aren't in the rest of my Indian cookbook collection.

So far, I've made a curry of chicken and cashew nuts in black spices (with ginger, coriander seeds, cumin, cloves, and cinnamon), and a marvelous lemon rice. I'll probably make green chicken korma (wih coriander leaves, mint, and green chili) this week... or maybe it'll be prawns in sweet and hot curry (with tamarind, garlic, cumin, curry leaves and jaggery). I can't decide.

The subtitle is "a father's steps to a blended family that really works" A soundtrack MUSIC CD is included....lovely snapshots of life of a 3-6 year old little girl, her single-partent father and their blended family . She appears in the drawings -- he appers in tonggues using poetry to transcribe his daughter's drawings-- and prose....the title comes from the author's belief that a daddy is his daugher's first dance partner. This is a perfect book for giving at any age....on a birthday...after a divorce...or even on a daughter's first prom night...beautiful....Each of them could be filmed-- fabulous gift book....YES real men do go to tea parties...a lovely book for fathers, mothers and families....

Daddy Daughter Dinner Dance takes family values back to where they once were long ago. Although not tradtional in nature the displays of love and caring teach us all how to care. What a beautiful parent to take the time to see the beauty of all the
lovely drawings and make poetry out of each of them,while most of us hang our childrens drawings on the refrigerator and then file them somewhere,Bill teaches us the beauty in what we as parents can learn from our most precious gifts, our children.

Quateman breaks life down to it's lowest common denominator-the heart. Through his daughter's pictures and his touchingly open essays, we see for ourselves that there need be no boundaries when it comes to blending our families together.

The love in this book is a soulful eclispe that leaves its readers knowing all beauty is possible in every kind of family no matter the circumstances. Bill and India have touched on the most important relationship between a Daddy and his precious daughter. This book is a treasure, a teaching tool for parents,teachers,and psychologists as a model to follow."Daddy Daughter Dinner Dance" gives us life lessons that come straight from the heart.

More 66% of families now days are consisted of "Broken Homes" or divorced parents. This causes much confusion especially for the son or daughter that has to go through the transit between different rules and structure. I have witnessed this first hand as my parents divorced when i was about seven or eight. It was tough having to understand the meaning to all this and often time blamed myself for the splitting of my parents. Myself just ending my teen years, read this book and look back and recognizing the value family communication and how important it is for the family to come together despite their differences. I believe this book is a cheat-sheet to parenting and helps guide you as a parent to bettering your relationship with the rest of your family. I strongly encourage you to take a look at this book because I think everyone needs a little cheat-sheet once in a while. =P

-dylan age 17

After reading Royal Flash and Flashman's Lady, I was beginning to think that I as over Flashy, as those books didnt move me in quite the same way the Flashman Papers and the Dragon did.

However, this tale of debauchery and adventure redeemed good ole Flashy in my eyes. Actually, I have been beginning to suspect that Flashy isnt as big a coward as he plays himself to be. His aim appears steady and his sword arm sure when ever he is in a pinch.

The only draw back is that if you are not careful to remember the meanings of all the native lingo, you'll bound to get lost.

Neither has historical fiction. Harry Flashman is both. By now you are probably joining me in wishing Harry Flashman was here today. I'd vote for him to President.

I read this book as part four of my chronological survey of the life and times of the greatest jewel in the British crown. After greatly enjoying the original Flashman papers and the two following edited packages, I consider this installment the best so far.

Fraser not only gives us the expected portion of ribaldry, but puts our hero in an accurately described historic situation in which some of the players are so spineless that they make look Flashy rather virtuous, by comparison.
The result is a well-documented narrative, describing the first series of big battles of the British in the Punjab in which the local powers did not have any scruples about plotting a defeat resulting in thousands of deaths of their own people, just to hold on to power a little longer.

In style, Flashman, who looks rather upstanding through it all, gets none of the credit that he for once deserved. ...

This book was a great read and I can't wait to devour the next volume in the series.

In the fourth installment of the Flashman papers, our intrepid hero is in India, helping the Empire expand into the Punjab. And yes, there are instances where Flashman does seem to demonstrate a little spine - but perhaps this is more a result of his working along side equally manipulative and underhanded schemers that Flash looks downright heroic in comparison.

As Flashman fans would expect, the history behind the story is meticulously documented. The tale is set a few years before the crown assumes control of the sub-continent from the East India Company, as India makes is greatest (but ultimately failed) attempt to drive the English out of the region by force. The history alone makes a fascinating read. With the addition of Harry Flashman's escapades to "liven up" the byzantine plotting of real -life theives, turncoats, cowards and liars you have the best Flashman book to date.

In George MacDonald Fraser's 'Flashman and the Mountain of Light', our man Flashy sees Queen Vicky holding the Koh-I-Noor diamond and flashes back to India - more precisely, the Punjab where he arrives just in time for the first Anglo Sikh War (1845-46), not to suggest that Flashman had a hand in the war or anything.

The reader meets some of the most colorful figures ever to occupy the historical stage - as Flashman says "there were some damned odd fellows about in the earlies" - many of whom have just about slipped into the obscuring mists of time before Frasser rescued them. There's the White Mughal Alexander Haughton Campbell Gardner, the Queen Mother Maharani Jeendan (ohh, what a mother!), British 'agent' George Broadfoot and more. Flashman even meets up with a couple of fellows who are bigger cowards than he - Lal Singh and Tej Singh.

Fraser also takes the reader through the war in some detail, especially the battles at Ferozeshah and Sobraon. If anything the battle scenes last too long, but that will be a matter of taste for the individual reader.

Along the way, Harry engages in some rather disturbing behavior, which other reviewers have suggested indicate a degree of bravery heretofore undetected. Bosh! While Flashy isn't always the quivering mass of jelly we have come to expect, any actions suggestive of courage are simply acts of self-preservation. And anyway, Flashy gets his just reward for such behavior in the end.

Highest Flashman recommendation.

I was quite impressed with the volume of details in this book. The authors acknowledge the fact that a 'collective improvement is required from all the sectors' to make India, a developed nation. They also emphasize that every Indian should take an action to achieve the dream of "Vision 2020".

The book doesn't just share the 'findings' & the 'vision', but also proposes recommendations & actions to realize the dream. It will be a great eye opener for many of us (Indians). The authors request Indians to avoid pessimism in every form. The book also highlights that "Irrespective of the roles, responsibilities and industry that you work in, you can make a difference. You can help India to become a developed country. Even a small action from every individual brings in a collective improvement".

I would recommend everyone to read this book & share India's Vision 2020.

The book is good for young minds who are seeking direction.
It gives some insight about the complexity involved in building a true nation.

The bad part is the editing, sentences gets repeated.
some of the paragraphs are copied same mutiple times in a chapter, it feels like the rhetoric political speech.

The book titled `India 2020 : A Vision for the New Millennium' by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam with Shri Y.S. Rajan is timely brought out to facilitate transformation (economic as well as social through technological interventions) to have a developed India by 2020.

The areas identified ranges from Food & Agriculture to High Tech areas including Strategic Industries. Enabling Infrastructure suggestions viability of inter-linkages between various sectors.

The book has sensitised the younger generation specially scientist/technologist to look ahead in technology development so that rapid changes in many sectors of economy are accomplished.

The publication contain well-defined targets so that active role could be played by all concerned including Industries, R&D personnel, Academia, Government as well as non-Governmental sectors.

I have strong conviction that the accomplishment of targets by each and every one in respective field as contained in the book will surely make India self-reliant and prosperous (A DEVELOPED INDIA) by early next century.

This book is a wake up call. Having attained political independence from the British rule in 1947, India has much to achieve in terms of economic independence even after half a century since then. The dream to eradicate poverty and suffering in the world's largest democracy is still unrealized. India depends on imports in many areas that are crucial to her strategic interests in civilian and military applications. Large sections of the people have no recourse but to their prayers - whether it is drought or floods. Though the country boasts of its role in the global IT arena, the contribution in dollar terms is nowhere comparable to the actual potential that needs to be tapped. While there are pockets of affluence in the mini "silicon valleys" where yuppies gulp packaged mineral water, draught beer and internationally branded colas, there exist thousands of villages where clean drinking water is still a dream to our honorable citizens.

While this paints a grim scenario, the achievements in various sectors that have put us on the radar screen of technologically developed nations needs to be highlighted. India, a country with abundant natural resources is respected for what has been achieved in areas like self-sufficiency in food grains, a strong nuclear deterrence, a large technological and scientific work force and giant strides in our programs in the core sectors of the economy.

Consider this: India, a country where poverty is a thing of the past and all her citizens are healthy and educated by 2010; India, the fourth largest and developed economy by 2020. This book shows us the way. This is a mission to build on our strengths; the strength of over a billion people who are committed to succeed. It is written with an in-depth understanding of the problems on hand given the vast experience of the authors. What makes this book to stand out from the rest of the reports on similar issues is the true passion and urgency to succeed with nationalistic pride. Each chapter deals with one important sector of growth with focus on implementation and cross-sectoral linkages. Technology for progress with a human face is a common thread across the book. All citizens, particularly the more fortunate and better educated have a major role in the road ahead.

As head of state, a great Indian scientist who ignites our passion is now at the helm of this mission. The country needs more Kalams and not Salaams in the North and South Blocks of New Delhi to realize this vision.

The book titled `India 2020 : A Vision for the New Millennium' by Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam with Shri Y.S. Rajan is timely brought out to facilitate transformation (economic as well as social through technological interventions) to have a developed India by 2020.

The areas identified ranges from Food & Agriculture to High Tech areas including Strategic Industries. Enabling Infrastructure suggestions viability of inter-linkages between various sectors.

The book has sensitised the younger generation specially scientist/technologist to look ahead in technology development so that rapid changes in many sectors of economy are accomplished.

The publication contain well-defined targets so that active role could be played by all concerned including Industries, R&D personnel, Academia, Government as well as non-Governmental sectors.

I have strong conviction that the accomplishment of targets by each and every one in respective field as contained in the book will surely make India self-reliant and prosperous (A DEVELOPED INDIA) by early next century.

George Perkovich has produced a seminal work on India's nuclear weapons program. He analyzes the political, economic, security issues that have contributed to India's decision-making regarding the bomb. George has correctly identified India as being caught in a dilemma for a long time over nuclear weapons testing. India also provides the only example of a nuclear weapons program that was openly debated in a democratic society. This debate (which ranked often very low on the priorities of successive prime ministers who correctly placed socio-economic development as a higher priority) has led to India shifting its position over time -- one from being the first proponent of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty to opposing it due to is discriminatory nature today. It describes how India's opposition to nuclear weapons in the '50s which was perceived as being moralizing in the West, has now changed to embrace weapons since the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty permanently endorsed the nuclear weapons status of the five declared nuclear powers without any comprehensive, binding time-table for destroying all nuclear weapons -- a position that India objects to as being discriminatory.

A must-read for anyone interested in nuclear weapons proliferation and arms control negotiations today.

Less to do with the bomb per se, but a scholarly history of the Indian nuclear program. This is a work that will be quoted again and again.

This is easily one of the best books I have read about my own country. Very informative.

Note to editorial Reviewers: India entered the nuclear club in May 1974 and not in May 1998 as suggested by some of your reviews.

Some highlights of the book.

* The term nuclear "haves" and "have-nots" was coined by Homi Bhabha initially and used by others and till date has been central to putting forth our country's opposition to NPT and CTBT.

* University of Chicago's late Prof. Chandrasekhar's refusal to head the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) after the death of patriot Dr. Homi Bhabha.

* One of my disappointment is the author's avoidance in the discussion of the cause of the death of Dr. Homi Bhabha, even though such an incident is beyond the scope of this book. Since Bhabha provided the impetus and leadership during the nuclear program's infancy, I expected the author to throw some light on this issue.

* Vikram Sarabhai's hatred for Nuclear tests is news, especially since he was heading the Atomic Energy commision. As a spaceman it is surprising that he headed the organization in the first place.

* Indira Gandhi's refusal to allow more nuclear tests after 1974 stemmed from her abhorence for anything nuclear after her post-Pokhran I experiences. This is contrary to the popular belief - international pressure.

* Most sections of the book has an objective view of the Indian nuclear scenario except the last few chapters where the author seems to bend towards India signing the CTBT and the NPT. Or atleast implying that India's moral stand on nuclear issue was defeated after the May 98 tests.

* BJP (and its predecessor Jana Sangh) has been the only political party to openly campaign for Nuclear power.

It is time that India and Pakistan get the respect they deserve as nuclear powers. Why is it that France, Germany, Israel, the U.S., Russia, and South Africa (now supposedly non-nuclear) have been able to garner the respect that China, India and Pakistan are alluded by? Is it becuase they are not white Europeans? Nontheless, a well researched book.

As an Indian immensely proud of his country's accomplishments and having had to enter multiple debates with other non-Indians in May 1998, I gained a great amount from the book. It is immaculately researched and it seems that Perkovich has left no stone unturned. It goes into such depth and understanding of the Indian polity's psyche as previously unseen from a non-Indian author. Perkovich is not merely narrating a set of events which led to the testing but defending a theory that goes against current understandings of international relations and nuclear non-profileration by setting India as an example. I enjoyed every chapter of the book and hope that current policy makers in the field learn from it. A must read for every Indian interested it their country's policies and others making policy for the rest of the world.

I first read this book just after it was first published some 50 years ago. It was, I recall, a pleasure to read then and doubly so to re-read the account of Corbett's adventures again today. Jim Corbett's somewhat matter-of fact, understated style is a delight to read and his simple yet vivid descriptions of the Indian locale and the people, who play a part in his story are those of a man that loves and deeply understands this land and its people. Corbett is no wanton destroyer of wildlife but a protector of impoverished and often terrified communities who understands and explains with sympathy, why the prey he hunted were forced to become what they were.

Any book by Jim Corbett is an interesting read. Although, nowadays, big game hunting is a thing of the past (I reckon), yet it is through the eyes of the author that the reader can seamlessly go back to the times when it was not so.

The stories are beautifully detailed in their descriptions of the expeditions, the customs of the hill folks, their traditions, courage, and (some interesting) superstitions. More often than not while reading the book, I have wondered whether whether I would know what happens in the end because of some absolutely incredible situations and circumstances described.

HOW THIS MAN COULD MOVE THROUGH THE JUNGLE SO EASILY I DON'T KNOW..HE MUST HAVE HAD BAZOOMAS LIKE BASKETBALLS...LOL

In a few words Jim Corbett can transport you back 60-100 years & make you feel like you are right there beside him tracking a Tiger in India. There is no bravado, he comes across as very humble. I had read his "Man-Eaters of Kumaon" several years ago & thought it was without a doubt one of the best books I had ever read. Even knowing how good his books were I was still highly impressed with this book as well. It isn't just the tigers he describes but the whole Indian country-side & the people & animals that habitat the place. He takes you there. Don't hesitate to read one of his books.

Once again in this book Jim Corbett has proved it, he was a awesome incredible gentleman. I have never seen anyone who could write like him. Amazing man with amazing courage. His modesty is revealed throughout his book. He goes through so much suffering and pain, but never once writes about it. From his book you can feel how much concern he had for people. People trusted him with with their lives. His book teaches us a lot about jungles. I would recommend this to anyone who likes animals. Once again Jim Corbett you were and still are the best writes of adventures.

Love, love, love this book! I wish Patty had more books out there!

I've read a lot of Christian fiction, and this book had me hooked very early on. I couldn't believe how soon the action started. There's nothing to wade through before the adventure takes off. The storyline and characters are so compelling that, I know it's cliche, but I really couldn't put the book down. I enjoyed the exotic setting and the romance, but what really shines through is a Christian faith that stands up in the face of anything.

Patty Metzer was from my home town. I only met her once, briefly, but her death was a loss to the community and a loss to the world of Christian fiction.

What first caught my attention was the cover which immediately brought to mind the picture of Taj Mahal. Then I read the book. To say Patty Metzer is an amazing author is an understatement. This book was wonderful. The prince was gorgeous and the heroine, for once was intelligent and thankfully not to much so. In most christian romance books, the hero and heroine don't seem to be attracted physically to each other, but this book has all the spine-tingling tidbits that will give you the idea that characters are attracted to each other.
I love the Indian setting. It lent the storyline a sultry exotic setting. The characters were intriguing and so was the plot line. Although I thik the Prince's character was a little to bratty and arrogant, it worked well for the plot line because he showed the right emotions at the right time.
All in all, it was a great read and I would recommend it for anyone who wants romance that does not contain Hentai( japanese, for well you know..)Good job Patty!

(...)

I absolutley love to read and have read many, many Christian fictions. This one is one of the best ever. It has a little of everything. Suspense, adventure, love, etc. Once you get started, you will find it hard to put this book down. Metzer is a truley gifted author.

I am a VERY avid reader of inspirational fiction - having read literally hundreds of titles over the past few years. Among so many books, this one stands out as one of my absolute favorites. If you love exotic settings, touching romance, and intriguing suspense, you can't go wrong with this one. (Clearly I thoroughly disagree with one of the other more critical reviews listed...) More importantly, however, is the author's focus on faith - the message is truly inspired. Kudos to Patty Metzer - especially considering the hardships she's endured in her own life. I so hope to see more books from her in the near future.