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7th out of 57 books
—
33 voters
The Wonder That Was India: A Survey of the History and Culture of the Indian Sub-Continent before the coming of the Muslims
by
A.L. Basham
Brand new reprint, pa. best available. a classic, wellbound, illus. 3rd rev. ed. Golden Jubilee Pub. with introduction by Thomas Trautmann
"Dr. Basham writes with admirable clarity and sturdy good sense. The early Indian attitude to life with its passionate delight in the senses, its gentle tolerance and kindly humanity, excites his enthusiasm and this is well transmitted
th...more
"Dr. Basham writes with admirable clarity and sturdy good sense. The early Indian attitude to life with its passionate delight in the senses, its gentle tolerance and kindly humanity, excites his enthusiasm and this is well transmitted
th...more
Paperback, 688 pages
Published
January 28th 2005
by Picador
(first published 1954)
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Women in ancient India roamed the streets with naked breasts. Take that, modern world!
One cannot refrain from considering any work on Indian culture and history under the scanner of famed "Orientalism" as told to us by Edward Said, if the work is from an Western author. AL Basham though seems doesn't quite fill the bill of an orientalist. This is a work of very high quality and very deep research for which the author learned nearly all the ancient Indian languages and all of its ancient literatu...more
One cannot refrain from considering any work on Indian culture and history under the scanner of famed "Orientalism" as told to us by Edward Said, if the work is from an Western author. AL Basham though seems doesn't quite fill the bill of an orientalist. This is a work of very high quality and very deep research for which the author learned nearly all the ancient Indian languages and all of its ancient literatu...more
I've wanted to buy this book for the better part of 3 years and I finally got my hands on it. Haven't finished it yet, but from what I've read it thoroughly deserves its reputation as a classic, holding up well after 53 years.
In my experience with histories of India, you generally have two extremes: Ones written by Indian authors that so aggressively seek to discount earlier volumes' Western slant it comes across as "one-upsmanship", and the volumes written by Western authors that seek to apolog...more
In my experience with histories of India, you generally have two extremes: Ones written by Indian authors that so aggressively seek to discount earlier volumes' Western slant it comes across as "one-upsmanship", and the volumes written by Western authors that seek to apolog...more
Jan 17, 2009
Claire S
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Claire by:
Aamir Khan's blog
from wikipedia:
Arthur Llewellyn Basham was born on May 24, 1914, in Loughton, Essex, the son of Abraham Arthur Edward Basham and Maria Jane Basham née Thompson. Although an only child, he grew up in Essex with his adopted sister, who was in fact his cousin on his father's side. His father had been a journalist who served in the Indian Army at Kasauli, near Simla during World War I, and it was the stories that his father told him about India that first introduced him to the culture of the country...more
The book is very important in establishing a flourishing culture before the Muslim conquest in the region. But the style is very academic and fails to maintain interest throughout the huge book. The book therefore becomes a reference book which still has a place on the bookshelf.
This is the best book on early Indian Hisory for a lay man. The early life of India described in such minute detail, it seems that we are living that society. Chapter on Village Life, Religion and Art and Literature is wonderfully and insight fully written.
One of the first Indological books that I had actually loved. I admit that the concept of single-author studying an entire era spanning over centuries (if not millennium) has become obsolete, but the book is WONDERFUL in its most literal sense.
AL Basham stands upto his reputation. We may not agree with everything there in any historical perspective book but then can't wait for a "gospel" book which has nothing but truth. So Basham gives his account on interpretation of Indian history despite less data available. Quite a few data points facts and figures are thrown up which are useful for a discussion if you sit around with like minded and well read folks.
A good book to read to get a quick overview. However as I keep saying that histor...more
A good book to read to get a quick overview. However as I keep saying that histor...more
Focuses mainly on Indian pre-islamic cultural and religious history (Basham's specialty I think is Buddhism). No good for a correct balanced view now as the book is outdated, but has nice snippets.
Recommended if you like Buddhism, the Vedas and Sanskrit. I personally liked it as you can be reasonably certain Basham is not bigoted. One drawback I see is Basham's over reliance on only written records which handicaps him in this period, quite a bit of the book reads like an English translation of...more
Recommended if you like Buddhism, the Vedas and Sanskrit. I personally liked it as you can be reasonably certain Basham is not bigoted. One drawback I see is Basham's over reliance on only written records which handicaps him in this period, quite a bit of the book reads like an English translation of...more
Can wander in centuries ago in the streets and villages of India , nice illustrations with quotes from Vedas , Bhagawath Geetha , Ramayan ,etc
Dec 10, 2012
Shahnawaz Islam
marked it as to-read
Missed reading it in college. But still in my list.
lucid interesting and cant keep it down>
I did not like the book, left it midway.
May 22, 2013
Abhinav Anurag Mishra
added it
a nice attempt to introspect over the past ... worth a read :)
Text book, history
May 23, 2013
Brian Sullivan
marked it as to-read
May 22, 2013
Vivek Mamidi
marked it as to-read
May 22, 2013
Priya
is currently reading it
May 22, 2013
Cave_man
marked it as to-read
May 21, 2013
Prakash Khanchandani
marked it as to-read
May 20, 2013
Yugesh
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May 20, 2013
Samheet Kaur
marked it as to-read
May 20, 2013
Arif Ahmad
marked it as to-read
May 18, 2013
Hitesh
marked it as to-read
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