India, Gandhi, History, Comparative Religion, General 

This is the one book you need to understand the spirit of India. Internationally acclaimed as the best book of its type on India, this sixth expanded, revised edition of the multi-award winning book India Unveiled: Spirit, Tradition, People by Robert Arnett truly reveals the diversity and sacredness of the oldest continuously living civilization on earth. The true-to-life photography and engaging text with an insightful portrait of its people, landscape, and diverse culture captures the essence of India. India is presented in all her richness and diversity for the readers to relish and to savor. Over 40,000 copies have been sold so far. For over twenty years Arnett has made numerous trips to India, photographing places with cultural significance, or found significance in them in the light of his scholarly background and artistic and philosophical interests. His journey to India was not that of a casual traveler. Having a graduate degree in history and being a collector or Oriental, African and primitive art, he brought back not only his understanding of an ancient civilization, but also a pictorial and narrative record of his travels. He includes topics that are rarely presented by other writers. The narrative and photographs acknowledge India s modernity while giving full credence to its ancient history, traditions, and religions, particularly the four that originated in India: Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. The writing style of the work gives the reader an in-depth look at the history of India, its geography and people, and focuses on details that are not common knowledge among tourists. The book includes a timeline of India and the World; quotes of notable people including Einstein, Rudyard Kipling, Mark Twain, Marco Polo and others; an excellent glossary that is extremely useful for first-time readers of India; succinct summary of British Rule in India; and a comprehensive index. India Unveiled: Spirit, Tradition, People will be the centerpiece of discussions in many homes where there is curiosity about the world and a respect for its inhabitants. - from Amzon