This history provides an original, succinct but sustained narrative of the development of Indian society, culture and polity from 7000 BC to the present.
Themes explored include:
- The interactions and tensions between cultures and politics, communities and states, and the region and the outside world
- Findings of recent research on the range of Indian history and pre-history
- The nature of pre-modern as well as contemporary politics
- Origins and consequences of the Mughal and British conquests
- The link between contemporary problems - such as the role of women, poverty and religions nationalism - and India's rich and varied history.