--- product_id: 1623984 title: "India: A History. Revised and Updated" price: "€ 35.51" currency: EUR in_stock: true reviews_count: 8 url: https://www.desertcart.pt/products/1623984-india-a-history-revised-and-updated store_origin: PT region: Portugal --- # India: A History. Revised and Updated **Price:** € 35.51 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** India: A History. Revised and Updated - **How much does it cost?** € 35.51 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.pt](https://www.desertcart.pt/products/1623984-india-a-history-revised-and-updated) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description India: A History. Revised and Updated [Keay, John] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. India: A History. Revised and Updated Review: A Chronologically Balanced History of India - This one volume history of India offers a great perspective on the 3500+ years of known history (plus the 1000+ additional years of archaeological history) by focussing equal attention on equal periods of time, roughly speaking. Naturally, the sources are admittedly sparse the further back we go, but the author does a remarkably good job of keeping a reasonable perspective. Of course, it skips many details later in the story, when details from the recent past are abundant. This makes for less conjecture, but also leaves one with a sense of glossing over, if you are familiar with recent Indian history. Overall, this is an excellent history book for the serious beginner, and can point the interested reader to further enquiry. It is adequately illustrated, and rather nicely diagrammed (particularly for some dynasties where successive rulers went back and forth across generations). Review: A detailed review of the history of India - First off, let me explain why I wanted to read this book. I realized a few years ago that there were massive parts of the world, for example the "Middle East" and China, about whose history I knew nothing. I couldn't have told you what the lands of Arabia were like prior to the present day, or when the imperial age ended in China, etc. So I started to collect and read some history books that gave the reader an overview of the known history of a particular region. Thus far, I've read such a book about the Middle East and China. India was next for me. My review, then, is based on my judgment about the book as in introduction to and survey of the history of the region of world currently known as India. For my purposes, I find the book to be quite good. India seems to defy extensive historical summary because of the many different people who have lived in the region throughout history and the relative lack of documentation detailing the early history of those people and their political associations. Like China, India's multitude of kingdoms had elastic borders, with many contemporary nations occupying the subcontinent at any given time. Referring to India as a single entity is often a geographical convenience more than a reality of governance. That Keay is knowledgeable about the history of the region is certain, and his book's approach to describing the cultural and political factors that set the events of India's history to movement is certainly informative. There are a few points in the book, however, where relating the myths and legends of the people are too seemlessly blended with the narrative of the historical fact (or theory, as the facts are often in dispute). As a simple consequence of the complexity of the topic, the crush of information (like the list of a regions of a monarch's conquests, for example) can overwhelm to the point of diluting understanding. I would have found the descriptions more informative if I had been provided with more of a summary of the historical significance of a king or kingdom, providing the list-like information bracketed as a section. The names of the conquered in a particular conquest are not useful for such a coarse view of India's history, and their listing exhausts the reader. There is one weakness that I attribute to the information presented. When studying a large region, I like to have a feel for where in the geography of the region a certain thing or event was located. Keay does mention place names, but from the very outset of the book, I had the feeling that I would be getting more out of the book if I was more familiar with the geography of India. For example (for those like me with a knowledge of U.S. geography), imagine reading a passage that described an area stretching from Salt Lake City to Nashville - not a very useful description for a person not familiar with at least the general location of those cities within the overall geographic region. One cannot easily envision whether this is a large area or a small area, north, south or centralized, near the borders or far from them without at least a feel for their position. I recommend reading this book alongside a good map. For generalists unfamiliar with the topic, I also recommend reading the book with a personal list of non-English terms that are presented in the book. Although Keay does a good job of explaining and introducing concepts that are best expressed in the native language, it is easy to forget many pages later what the deccan, arya-varta, hind, stupa, etc. etc. refer to exactly. The weaknesses of the book are far outweighed by the book's strengths - at least for my stated purposes. The author's style is reasonably readable given the often-times dry material. I am dinging one star for not condensing the overly detailed conquests and bloodlines of comparatively trival houses, as I just feel that, while important to the student of India's history, they are out of place in a survey this general, and dilute the most salient points of interest of these ancient kingdoms. Still, I shouldn't complain about getting exactly what I asked for, which is a complete history of India from the earliest extant knowledge to the present day. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #72,554 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #4 in Pakistan History #4 in History of Hinduism #6 in India History | | Customer Reviews | 4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars (1,327) | | Dimensions | 6 x 2 x 9 inches | | Edition | Revised, Expanded | | ISBN-10 | 0802145582 | | ISBN-13 | 978-0802145581 | | Item Weight | 2.15 pounds | | Language | English | | Print length | 640 pages | | Publication date | April 12, 2011 | | Publisher | Grove Press | ## Images ![India: A History. Revised and Updated - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/914IqHav6IL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A Chronologically Balanced History of India *by P***R on October 18, 2006* This one volume history of India offers a great perspective on the 3500+ years of known history (plus the 1000+ additional years of archaeological history) by focussing equal attention on equal periods of time, roughly speaking. Naturally, the sources are admittedly sparse the further back we go, but the author does a remarkably good job of keeping a reasonable perspective. Of course, it skips many details later in the story, when details from the recent past are abundant. This makes for less conjecture, but also leaves one with a sense of glossing over, if you are familiar with recent Indian history. Overall, this is an excellent history book for the serious beginner, and can point the interested reader to further enquiry. It is adequately illustrated, and rather nicely diagrammed (particularly for some dynasties where successive rulers went back and forth across generations). ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ A detailed review of the history of India *by K***K on August 9, 2011* First off, let me explain why I wanted to read this book. I realized a few years ago that there were massive parts of the world, for example the "Middle East" and China, about whose history I knew nothing. I couldn't have told you what the lands of Arabia were like prior to the present day, or when the imperial age ended in China, etc. So I started to collect and read some history books that gave the reader an overview of the known history of a particular region. Thus far, I've read such a book about the Middle East and China. India was next for me. My review, then, is based on my judgment about the book as in introduction to and survey of the history of the region of world currently known as India. For my purposes, I find the book to be quite good. India seems to defy extensive historical summary because of the many different people who have lived in the region throughout history and the relative lack of documentation detailing the early history of those people and their political associations. Like China, India's multitude of kingdoms had elastic borders, with many contemporary nations occupying the subcontinent at any given time. Referring to India as a single entity is often a geographical convenience more than a reality of governance. That Keay is knowledgeable about the history of the region is certain, and his book's approach to describing the cultural and political factors that set the events of India's history to movement is certainly informative. There are a few points in the book, however, where relating the myths and legends of the people are too seemlessly blended with the narrative of the historical fact (or theory, as the facts are often in dispute). As a simple consequence of the complexity of the topic, the crush of information (like the list of a regions of a monarch's conquests, for example) can overwhelm to the point of diluting understanding. I would have found the descriptions more informative if I had been provided with more of a summary of the historical significance of a king or kingdom, providing the list-like information bracketed as a section. The names of the conquered in a particular conquest are not useful for such a coarse view of India's history, and their listing exhausts the reader. There is one weakness that I attribute to the information presented. When studying a large region, I like to have a feel for where in the geography of the region a certain thing or event was located. Keay does mention place names, but from the very outset of the book, I had the feeling that I would be getting more out of the book if I was more familiar with the geography of India. For example (for those like me with a knowledge of U.S. geography), imagine reading a passage that described an area stretching from Salt Lake City to Nashville - not a very useful description for a person not familiar with at least the general location of those cities within the overall geographic region. One cannot easily envision whether this is a large area or a small area, north, south or centralized, near the borders or far from them without at least a feel for their position. I recommend reading this book alongside a good map. For generalists unfamiliar with the topic, I also recommend reading the book with a personal list of non-English terms that are presented in the book. Although Keay does a good job of explaining and introducing concepts that are best expressed in the native language, it is easy to forget many pages later what the deccan, arya-varta, hind, stupa, etc. etc. refer to exactly. The weaknesses of the book are far outweighed by the book's strengths - at least for my stated purposes. The author's style is reasonably readable given the often-times dry material. I am dinging one star for not condensing the overly detailed conquests and bloodlines of comparatively trival houses, as I just feel that, while important to the student of India's history, they are out of place in a survey this general, and dilute the most salient points of interest of these ancient kingdoms. Still, I shouldn't complain about getting exactly what I asked for, which is a complete history of India from the earliest extant knowledge to the present day. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A brilliant and well written, if long, general history of India *by P***F on December 2, 2015* This is an outstanding general history of India and is strongly recommended. The narrative is very well written and organized, making it a very useful broad discussion of Indian history. I had read a similar general history of India 15 years ago and this book is far better written and includes much recent scholarship. There a few minor challenges to the book, in particular its introduction to the European presence in India is weak but it eventually recovers the narrative as the British presence becomes a real factor in India. All that said, this book is long. In that context, it is a great book for those interested in Indian history. For those interested in a short summary, look elsewhere. I read this book to prepare for a my first tourist trip to India and loved it -- it brought to life the great palaces in Delhi and Agra and made real the forces that shaped India such as modern nationalism, the Raj, and the Chola. ## Frequently Bought Together - India: A History. Revised and Updated - India After Gandhi Revised and Updated Edition: The History of the World's Largest Democracy - The Anarchy --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.pt/products/1623984-india-a-history-revised-and-updated](https://www.desertcart.pt/products/1623984-india-a-history-revised-and-updated) --- *Product available on Desertcart Portugal* *Store origin: PT* *Last updated: 2026-04-28*