INDIA: A Short History published by Thames & Hudson is a concise history of India’s unfolding story, from the ancient Hindu dynasties to the coming of Islam, from the Mughal Empire to the present day, now in paperback with a new preface and postscript.

India has had many histories. To pilgrims from ancient China, India was the birthplace of the Buddha; to Alexander the Great it was a land of clever naked philosophers and indomitable, elephantine armies. At the height of the Mughal empire, India boasted nearly a quarter of the world’s economy, and even under the colonial rules it was the jewel in the crown of the British empire. Today it is the resurgent home to one sixth of the global population.

In INDIA: A Short History, scholar Andrew Robinson incisively distils India’s many incarnations, from the remarkably advanced cities of the early Indus Valley to the world’s largest democracy. Beginning with the ancient history of India, the book goes onto cover Buddhism, Hindu Dynasties, Islam and the Mughal Empire, East India Companies and European colonialism, the Independence Movement and partition, and ends with reflections on the present-day nation and its future.

With a new preface and postscript by Robinson, this new edition of India: A Short History provides a fascinating introduction to India that will appeal to anyone curious about its past, present, or future.