Keay’s excellent new book on the modern history of South Asia plunges the reader head first into some wildly swirling currents … His work is descriptive, panoramic, a large-scale survey of titanic struggles and the extraordinary survival of democracies’ Spectator`This absorbing, important history of South Asia over the six decades since British India was partitioned is the first time a book has been written on the history of this region as a whole’ Independent`A manifest triumph’ Literary ReviewFrom the reviews of `India: A History’`It is hard to imagine anyone succeeding more gracefully in producing a balanced overview than John Keay has done in “India”… a book that is as fluent and readable as it is up-to-date and impartial. Hardly a page passes without some fascinating nugget or surprising fact’ William Dalrymple, Guardian`Certainly the most balanced and lucid history… his passion for India shines through and illuminates every page… puts Keay in the front rank of Indian historiographers.’ Charles Allen, Spectator`Keay’s astute commentary on the development of Indian history is a delight… one of the best general studies of the subcontinent.’ Andrew Lycett, Sunday Times