LONG STORY SHORT

A new volume by distinguished scholars tries to trace the entire span of Indian history from its prehistoric beginnings right up to 1992

- Partho Datta

A NEW HISTORY OF INDIA: From Its Origins to the Twenty-first Century

by Rudrangshu Mukherjee, Shobita Punja, Toby Sinclair

ALEPH BOOK COMPANY

₹999; 455 pages

Though A New History of India promises something new, it delivers a familiar summary of liberal scholarship

A history of India by a distinguished trio of scholars, this book covers the entire span of India’s chronological past from its prehistoric beginnings to 1992, when the Babri Masjid was demolished. The subsequent years under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are not tackled, but the authors note with alarm the growing majoritarianism and intolerance. The volume is attractively produced, the writing is accessible, the tone is moderate. Numerous photographs, mostly of monuments, are well-chosen. These tell a story of their own, which defy the indigenes-versus-invaders narrative.