India Books

I read the book with great interest and found many inetresting details. The referencing is superb and the bibliography is perfect. A must for all students and researchers of Mughal history.

I am a professor of Mogal history and bought this book on recommendation of a colleague. I am glad that i bought this book as it was very informative, precise and in simple yet impressive text. One thing that I ,though, missed was photographs. I think the book would had been better with more pictures. But going by the broader picture i think that it is a really nice book. The book shows that Dr. Misra has an indepth knowledge of the subject.A must-read for all mughal history enthusiasts.

I always thought of history as a boring subject but after reading this book my viewpoint has undergone a drastic change. I saw the book at my local bookstore and decided to give the Mughal history one last chance. And am I happy I gave it one last chance. This book is wonderful! Its a must buy for all history lovers, especially the Mughal period. The language is simple yet educative, the topics are precise yet accurate and the book covers all topics of the Mughal dynasty without going into useless details. A million congrats Dr. Misra from my side.

Of the many books available on Yoga in book stores today, very few deal with the subject in any real depth. Most cater to the popular image of Yoga as yoga postures for physical well-being. Few challenge the reader to a deeper vision of Yoga or of their own inner nature. The Synthesis of Yoga stands apart from the available literature on Yoga, expressing the soul of Yoga to the deepest intelligence within us.
In fact, there are few works of such magnitude and comprehensiveness about Yoga ever written, and probably nothing comparable in the English language. Yet more importantly, this profound compendium on Yoga was not written from an academic or scholarly perspective, or from the view of those who work primarily with the physical yoga. It is a study of Yoga written by one of the greatest yogis of modern India, Sri Aurobindo, who has a reputation of spiritual greatness in India that exceeds Mahatma Gandhi, Tagore and other more well known figures in the West. There is probably no work of such scope and grandeur on Yoga available, and none by an author who was speaking from his own direct experience and realization.
The Synthesis of Yoga deals with Yoga as a means of Self-realization, God-realization and the transformation of humanity. It addresses all the classical yogic paths of knowledge, devotion, works and meditation, including Raja Yoga in all of its aspects. In this book, the term "Integral Yoga," first arises, combining all aspects of Yoga into a comprehensive system for the full development of all of our potentials on all levels of our being. The book shows the relevance of Yoga to all that we are, do, or are meant to become.
As a student, teacher and writer on Yoga and related teachings for more than thirty years, I cannot emphasize enough the importance at looking at Yoga the deeper and integral manner that is so eloquently expressed in the Synthesis of Yoga. It is recommended reading to all those who want to approach deeper or inner aspects of Yoga. The book will transform your idea of Yoga and open many new dimensions of practice and realization for you that you had not previously considered possible. I don't think anyone can seriously read the book and not come away without a sense of the vastness of real Yoga practice. The book will provide you with a deep understanding of the essence of Yoga, far beyond the common stereotypes of yoga as a physical or psychological practice for personal enhancement. The Synthesis of Yoga contains the keys for restoring Yoga as a deep spiritual practice with both an ancient and a futuristic vision.
In these days in which Yoga has largely been reduced to an exercise or fitness system, it is important to remember the spiritual orientation and purpose that classical Yoga was all about. The Synthesis of Yoga does this and much more, not from the ancient past or a poorly translated foreign language, but from a master teacher of the modern world, an eloquent poet and profound philosopher.

In this monumental work, Sri Aurobindo explains in depth how the different aspects of the ancient practice of yoga combine to enhance and promote our spiritual evolution. Speaking from a knowledge that is clearly the product of experience, Aurobindo explores and explains every facet of our human journey as we move toward conscious unification with our Source. One can get the most from this definitive work by moving through it slowly, giving oneself the time needed to understand and absorb its contents, for its scope is both broad and deep, thus making it a perennial reference for the serious seeker.

Sri Aurobindo provides an overview of the field of yoga. This is not a series of physical exercises, but the practices that allow an individual to understand the complex inner psychology and begin to move it toward union with the Divine. After a brief overview, Sri Aurobindo goes into great depth on the paths of knowledge, love and works, and concludes with his own unique contribution to the yoga of self perfection, where he reveals the evolutionary purpose of our human existence and puts the entire struggle we face into context.

An excellent and well researched study with extraordinary photographs by a well known scholar of Indian art. 430 interesting pages that are very well presented to the reader. You'll find possibly more detail than you may need, but you can return later for the items you missed.

Oppi's thoroughness and attention to the detail in this book is amazing. Pictures and illustrations are just magnificent. Oppi covers the jewelry of maharajas to jewelry of tribal people. The jewelry descriptions in this book include every region and every style there is in India. I bought this book when I was asked to talk about India's jewelry at an art museum. This book definitely improved my knowledge about the subject.

Oppi's book is magnificent. It is a culmination of over thirty years of Oppi's research. His book covers more than just Indian jewelry, but forehead marks and henna mendhi.

Inspired by trips to New York's museums when he was young, Oppi crafts a anthropological journey through a fascinating history of human ornamentation, beginning with wood ash and mud. Oppi traveled extensively to personally research his subject in association with scholarships he won, including a Fulbright scholarship and funding from John D Rockefeller III.

He shows the use of natural items in jewelry, such as leaves, flowers, seeds, vines and wood. Unusual jewelry materials like anteater claws are pictured. Of course, gemstones and precious metals are included. There are photos of elegant gold filigree and fist-sized gemstones.

My favorite part of the book is called "Typology from Head to Toe" in which Oppi takes you on a journey in pictures of people wearing ornaments in their hair to those worn on the toes. The book includes an extensive index and bibliography. It is a very human book, showing how ornaments are worn by people, not just showing photos of the ornaments alone as many other ethnic jewelry books do.

Although you might think the subject of Indian jewelry is narrow before you see the book, a glance through the book will make you want to own it even though the sticker price is high.

I agree with the above reviews. There is such a variety of subject matter and types of writing collected in this book and I found myself saving so many pages with great information about places in India that I had not yet heard about but wanted to make sure I visited now when I plan my own trip!

I'm giving this book five stars not because the individual travel stories comprising this are five star stories (though many of them are), but because the breadth of subject matter and perspectives this book offers are remarkable. From the frosty passes of the Himalayas to the bustling streets of Calcutta, from the Ganges to shores of Goa, from the rarely-visited tribal interior to the even more desolate Rann of Kutch, this book portrays a country with a topography perhaps as diverse as Europe's. From the barriers of caste to the oppression of women, this book portrays a social evolution still in progress but with roots in ancient times.

Highlights for me included Rory Nugent's eccentric search for the supposedly extinct pink-headed duck, and David Yeadon's brilliant portrayal of character interactions (including an Indian interrupting his narrative digression in real time "Sir, are you hearing me, sir?"). For every traveler that timidly scratched the surface of India without real discovery (such as a particularly uptight and sheltered Oxford Fellow's first trip) there was one so recklessly bold that you're glad you could relive the experience from the safety of your own home (including one author's visit to a tribal island where past visitors had been killed). Somewhere in the middle there's bound to be powerful inspiration for a trip of one's own.

Reading this book was not only satisfying, but served as a launching point for future reading of the complete works from which these tales were excerpted (David Yeadon's Back of the Beyond and Jonah Blank's Arrow of the Blue Skinned God seemed particularly interesting to me).

I read this book after reading the DK guide to India and Leila Hadley?s A Journey with Elsa Cloud (the latter is about a tour of parts of India in the 70s). This excellent collection of true stories really made all the places come alive and gave me a much richer and fuller sense of India than I could get from just Hadley?s book. The poverty, sexism, and daily encounters with excrement that are a part of life in India are compellingly conveyed at the same time as we come to feel the vast heavy weight of so many centuries of history, so much spiritual questing, so much diminished glory. Since I finished the book, I have found myself repeating stories to friends from the excerpts from Rory Nugent?s The Search for the Pink-Headed Duck and from Mark Shand?s Travels on My Elephant, which were particularly vivid and fascinating to me. There are a suprising number of tales featuring cyclists--evidently India is a popular place to tour by bike.

This is a record of a bright and energetic reporter with a real "nose for news." For anyone who wishes to understand the new and dynamic India, this brilliant insight into the formative cauldron of the area sorts out the players and problems, with the personal touch only Mr. Hlavacek could portray.

Hlucky Hlavacek, as he calls himself, presents a detailed and illuminating chronicle of his time as a correspondent for United Press International. Starting as a rookie reporter and then working his way up to Bureau Chief for this independent news service, "Hlucky" or "Check" was in a unique position to report the news from India - later Pakistan - Afghanistan, Nepal and Ceylon - India's independence, the partition forming the new country of Pakistan; interviews with Mohandas Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and others. Getting the story by any means necessary on foot, horseback, donkey, train, plane, boats, and in a series of automobiles always running on empty, to this reader that's not just luck that's dogged determination and hard work. For those who love to travel, and those who want to go "after the story" this is a must read. Victoria Maxwell

I started reading this book expecting to learn about the historical events that Mr. Hlavacek had covered in his years as a United Press Foreign Correspondent. What I didn't expect was the romance, the intrique, the adventure of getting to be there when the most important events are taking place in history. I didn't expect to be enthralled with the swashbuckling nature a newsman must have to get the story and then deliver it! It was exciting, fun, entertaining and, yes, even educational at times. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can't wait to read his other books.

The author did a magnificent job of telling the story of a bunch of kids who were handed a tough job and went about getting that job done, even at the ultimate cost...the book will always occupy a place of honor on my bookshelf.

Jim Vesely presents an interesting treatment of the life of American aircrews and support personnel by combining operational reports, veteran naratives and some letters from his uncle Sgt Adolph 'Otsie' Malovich, who was killed-in-action while serving his country, his family and his comrades. Mr. Vesely shares his heart with the reader, explaining his search to know more about the uncle he barely knew, and what Otsie's time might have been like while he was part of the 'Burma Bridge Busters', 490th Bomb Squadron. The author beautifully highlights how this group of men, serving in one of the remotest actions of the war, performed with gallantry, dignity and dedication. A must read for anyone interested in American participation in the China-Burma-India theater!

Well written, educational, well-researched, and intensely interesting. I learned more about the war in and around India, Burma, and China from this book than from my experience in the two plus years I was in the squadron. I really appreciate that aspect. The author must have spent untold hours researching the facts and then did a splendid job of putting it all together in an interesting way. The book helps a lot in putting a time frame on some of my memories. Thanks again.

This is an attractively published Bible and I am told that the translation is good.

This is an attractively published Bible and I am told that the translation is good.

I picked up this bible because I want to give to a friend of my.

This is a great book to use to teach children about Indian culture. The illustations are bright and unique. (Sangita- I alwasy knew you'd go far! :))This book is a must have for all school and public libraries.

I think this book was surprisingly cute and original. My son and I enjoy it very much.

This is an excellent book for children on the history of the bindi. I found it to be informative and accurate, but humorous and simple enough for children to understand. I plan on using it in my classroom- wonderful illustrations!

Again, Dr. Peale outdoes himself in this incredibly motivating and inspiring book. Everything you need to manifest success in your life is contained within this book along with real life examples of the miracles of positive thinking and belief in ones self and creator.

On the last page there's a quote from Thomas A. Edison that sums up the whole message of this book, "If we were to do all we are capable of doing we would literally astonish ourselves." It is with that spirit that Dr. Peale presents more evidence that one's thoughts determine one's destiny. A master at teaching people to apply Christian faith in everyday life, Dr. Peale has made another strong case for faith-based living.
In the preface he writes, "think positively, act positively, image positively, pray positively, and believe positively, and powerful results will be yours."
The first chapter describes the excitement of the process of adventurous, positive achievement. The fact that it is an ongoing process means the excitement need never end. Success feeds success.
He lists four factors which make up the process of success: 1)goal setting 2) positive thinking 3) visualizing and 4)believing.
He continues to emphasize that God is the essence of one's success, that one cannot achieve without Him.
Dr. Peale has a gift for putting powerful truths in memorable phrases, such as, "Belief power gets powerful results."
In the third chapter he talks about problem solving and reminds us that "every problem contains the seeds of its own solution."
Guidance from God, like other gifts from Him, is received by faith. He says believe that and act accordingly.
Like attracts like. He advocates applying that principle to one's thoughts. Positive thoughts attract similar thoughts.
Read this powerful book to enhance the quality of your life. You can't go wrong by doing so.

Norman Vincent Peale is well known for his famous book, The Power of Positive Thinking which has sold in the millions. This is one of his lesser known but extremely useful, helpful books because it gives hundreds of examples of how people changed their thinking and attitudes to get positive results in their lives. Some of the suggestions seem simple or corny but guess what? THEY WORK! I can vouch for that because I have tried many of them, including writing out goals on a card and carrying the the cards in my purse to reinforce my goals. More importantly, these reminders keep me on track daily. He calls this suggestion by the corny title of "the shirt pocket technique" meaning he carried his goals around on cards in his shirt pocket.
The other very helpful part of this book is that it contains checklists in most chapters, which are like "to do" lists. They are really summaries of the points he has made in that chapter and a reminder of what you can actually do to further your goals.
I keep a copy of this book around and read a page or 2 or 3 now and again to remind me how to stay positive and get to where I want to go. I highly recommend this book. For cynics, please consider his general theme, which might be summed up as "you get what you think".

I have been using this Cookbook for 6 years now. Every time I've used a recipe from this book, it's been a delight. A must have, not in your bookshelf, but in your kitchen.

This was the first Indian Cook book I was given and it is still my favorite, one I return to again and again. It has the most delicious dal recipies, and the pictures are mouth-watering! I am just a plain old American girl, but my friend Swati from Bangladesh says that my dals are superb! I have this book to thank for that. I love how this book is organized, and that in each section there is a wide variety of recipies. I love that we get the Indian name of the dish, as well as the English, and I think the instuctions are clear and organized. I buy this book as a gift for people frequently, and often people copy recipies out of my copy. If you only own one Indian cook book, this is the one to get. There is only one thing I would add to the book, and that would be measurements all in Standard for us backward Americans who never got the hang of metrics, but it has actually taught me metric measurements better! (i.e. 500 gms of meat is a pound. Thankfully, she does use cups and teaspoons.) Finally, I will reccomend my favorite recipies from this book. On page 45 is Sindhi Pulao - a festive rice and beef dish. Page 52 is the most food covered page in the book, as this is my basic dal recipie. I make this with moong chilka, split mung beans with their green skins, and sometimes red lentils or adzuki beans. It absolutely heavenly! (Red lentils need very little soaking and are good when you need to make beans quickly. Moong chilka should soak for a few hours and adzuki beans definitely need to soak overnight.) One thing I do which is not in the book is I puree the dal in my food processor before I add it to the ghee tempering. This is a special touch! I am famous in my circle of friends for my five spice cauliflower, found on page 80 - you can double it and use a head of broccoli and a head of cauliflower. Page 135 gives us Fenugreek Fish, which I make with catfish nuggets. Again, I use my food processor to puree the spice mixture for the fish. This book taught me how to cook Indian food, and I highly reccomend it to anyone!

I live in Morocco, and asked an English friend of mine to look for a book for me in England which explains how to make good curries (i.e., NOT a vegetarian cookbook). She brought this one and gave it to me for a gift. EVERY recipie I have tried form it has turned out to be WONDERFUL!!! I own both of Julie Sahani's Indian cookbooks. They are wonderful, too, but this one is EVEN BETTER, if you can believe it! The thing I love most about it is that it is printed on very good paper, and there are color photographs of many more recipies than other books. Both my family and friends have raved about EVERY recipie I have tried form this book.