Frontier Treks & Tours India

I was in Delhi the last few days with the great group of photographers making up our Lumen Dei Kumbh Mela photo tour. Yesterday while they were out shooting photos I dropped by one of my favorite bookstores in Delhi, Full Circle.

Every time I’m there I notice something interesting and worth picking up. This time I found a book on Kashmir I’ve been wanting to get for a while now – “Travels in Kashmir: A Popular History of Its People, Places, and Crafts” by Brigid Keenan. The summary on the back of the book starts with, “This is the story of Kashmir as it appears in travel literature and historical writings from ancient times to the twentieth century.”

I began reading it on my flight from Delhi to Srinagar earlier today, and it shows promise of being a helpful and enjoyable book on Kashmir. I’ll try to share more after completing it.

I also picked up two other books on India while at the bookstore. One of them details the great Mughal emperors of India, titled “Emperors of the Peacock Throne” by Abraham Eraly. Apparently outside of India the book is titled “The Mughal Throne.”

When I first was looking at the description on the back of the book I wondered what my favorite author on India, William Dalrymple, thought of the book. I then happened to notice this endorsement on the front cover: “It is hard to imagine anyone succeeding more gracefully in producing a balanced overview than Abraham Eraly” – William Dalrymple. That was all I needed to know!

The third book I purchased is interestingly titled “In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India” by Edward Luce. And once again, what did I find on the front cover – “Without question the best book yet written on the New India” – William Dalrymple. As I was already in the travel/history books on India mood I quickly decided to get this one too.

As I mentioned above, I’ll do my best to share more on each of these books as I finish reading them. If anyone else happens to have read any of these already, let me know your thoughts about them in the comments.

Before leaving Kashmir recently I stopped by the office of the J&K chapter of Intach to gather some info related to heritage walks in the old city area of Srinagar. While there I checked out an interesting book called “Don’t Tear It Down! Preserving the Earthquake Resistant Vernacular Architecture of Kashmir” by Rudolph Langenbach.

The book argues that the older, traditional design of many Kashmiri homes and buildings is much more resistant to falling apart from earthquakes than most of the more “modern” buildings being built in place of the older ones. There are several fascinating pictures in the book illustrating this point.

This is a great book for those interested in architecture, especially as it relates to areas prone to earthquakes. For other tourists to Kashmir the book may be interesting just to see some of the old photos from the Srinagar area compared to today.

You find the book online at various places, including amazon.com, and on this website as an e-book.

Indian Summer: The Secret History Of The End Of An Empire by Alex von Tunzelmann

I recently finished reading this excellent book on the history of the Partition of India that created the countries of India and Pakistan (and eventually Bangladesh). On the cover of the edition I bought is this quote from William Dalrymple:

“Unquestionably the best book I have ever read on the Independence and Partition of Indian and Pakistan…a flat out masterpiece.”

As Dalrymple is one of my favorite authors that was all I needed to know to buy this book. I was not disappointed as the book proved to be fascinating account of this significant time in world history.

The book contains a whole chapter focusing on Kashmir in the aftermath of India and Pakistan’s Independence. Near the beginning of the chapter von Tunzelmann states, “It is impossible to tell the story of what happened in Kashmir without upsetting at least one, or more likely, all of the factions that remain involved.” True, but she still does a good job of telling that story as complicated and controversial as it is.

If you enjoy historical narratives, this book is well worth reading. I highly recommend it for anyone wanting to learn more about India. You can check it out amazon.com or visit the author’s website.

In answering the question of what are some of the best books to read about India, William Dalrymple’s name should come up as an author with a few highly recommended books related to India. Probably his most entertaining and popular book is “City of Djinns”, a tale about the author’s incredibly varied and humorous experiences while living in Delhi. Dalyrmple’s more recent books such as “The Last Mughal” and “White Mughals” show off his excellent skill as a historian and storyteller about unique periods in India’s history rather than his own personal travels.

In addition to books, Dalrymple has also written several articles, including one on Kashmir. The article is titled “Kashmir: The Scarred and the Beautiful.” It’s a rather long article, but provides an interesting account of the conflict in Kashmir as well as some historical background on Kashmir’s art and religious heritage.