The role of the visual is essential to Hindu tradition and culture, but many attempts to understand India's divine images have been laden with misperceptions. Darsan, a Sanskrit word that means "seeing," is an aid to our vision, a book of ideas to help us read, think, and look at Hindu images with appreciation and imagination.
Can European thought be dislodged from the center of the practice of history in a non-European place? What problems arise when we translate cultural practices into the categories of social science? Provincializing Europe is one of the first book-length treatments on how postcolonial thinking impacts on the social sciences. This book explores, through a series of linked essays, the problems of thought that present themselves when we think of a place such as India through the categories of modern, European social science and, in particular, history.
Provincializing Europe is a sustained conversation between historical thinking and postcolonial perspectives. It addresses the mythical figure of Europe that is often taken to be the original site of the modern in many histories of capitalist transition in non-Western countries. This imaginary Europe, Chakrabarty argues, is built right into the social sciences. The very idea of historicizing carries with it some peculiarly European assumptions about disenchanted space, secular time, and human sovereignty. Measured against such mythical standards, capitalist transition in the third world has often seemed either incomplete or lacking. Chakrabarty finds that "Nativism," however, is no answer to Eurocentrism, because the universals propounded by European Enlightenment remain indispensable to any social critique that seeks to address issues of social justice and equity. Provincializing Europe proposes that every case of transition to capitalism is a case of translation as well--a translation of existing worlds and their thought-categories into the categories and self-understandings of capitalist modernity. Chakrabarty demonstrates, both theoretically and with examples from colonial and contemporary India, how such translational histories may be thought and written. Provincializing Europe is not a project of shunning European thought. It is a project of globalizing such thought by exploring how it may be renewed both for and from the margins.
I was delighted to read the chapter on "Adda", a unique Bengali culture. In Europe, café culture comes close to it. The French had the "salon" culture. Having participated in many "adda" in my youth in Calcutta, I miss it while living in the US or in Europe. Chakrabarty does a favor to my occidental friends by properly explaining what it means and what it did for Bengali social system.
Summing up, I would recommend this book to several groups of people. First, if you want to learn about the intricacies of the Indian, particularly Bengali, culture, this book is for you. Second, of course, this book is a required reading for any serious student of India and Indian culture. Third, students of international business should also be interested in this book as it lays the foundation of the many cultural tenets that are important in economic activities.
Whither subalternity?.......2000-12-11
Pace Chakrabarty, "Provincializing Europe" is replete with intellectual antics, including an inventive chapter devoted to re-reading "Das Kapital", and charged with 'ubiquitous obliquity' (to borrow Tom Stoppard's phrase from another context). However, it is not the detailed argumentation of the book that concerns us here; its essence will suffice to indicate the direction neo-Subalternism has taken. Chakrabarty's book aims to dismantle historicism itself, identified as that evil of the Enlightenment which views social phenomena as unities and historically developed. To achieve this, it proposes the disruption of metanarratives grounded in a 'single and secular historical time' (Chakrabarty 2000, 16 et passim) - (neo)colonial, nationalist, Marxist, whatever - by introducing authentic 'difference' thereto. This difference is sought in religion and the inclusion of gods and spirits as agents of history. Meanwhile, despite the repeated insistence that this is still Subalternist historiography, the subaltern meanders in the wings of Chakrabarty's stage, while his world of the Bengali middle-class male comes to constitute his 'archive' (Chakrabarty 2000, 117-236). As for the question of power, the analysis of relations of domination and subordination internal to society has given way to the power struggle between the oppressive Enlightenment and the recalcitrant historian in the new brand of "Subaltern Studies". Here, power is indeed entirely dispersed and only appears to coalesce in the Enlightenment and its intellectual heritage.
While enticing in its intellectual sharpness and breadth (Chakrabarty discusses Einstein and Marx in one fell swoop), there are a number of problems with this approach. The most urgent among these is that it paralyzes organized secular politics, lends credence to the politics of the religious right wing, and hence legitimates communal and sectarian carnage - a fact of life in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Furthermore, the fact that religion is the traditional stronghold of patriarchy as well as exploitation based on caste appears to escape Chakrabarty's notice. Only intellectuals located at a distance of oceans and continents from the destructive forces they valorize can afford to be so blasé about the very real threat of annihilation faced by minority groups in the context of an ascendant right. Polemics and reality (that specious construct) aside, and on a more scholarly note, the problematic of power stands sidelined. Subscribing to the idea that power is universal, and refusing to acknowledge that it coheres in concentrated form at certain sites (between subaltern and elite) is counterproductive to understanding power as it is exercised in systems of domination and subordination. By no means is such anxiety limited to the scholarship being released under the banner of Subaltern Studies. Susan Pedersen recently voiced similar concern over the direction of feminist history. Her eloquence merits citation in extenso: "[I]nsights that have proven so productive for cultural analysis - insights about the multivalent, collaborative and web-like nature of power - tend to be less useful for the study of narrower political processes. For, once we assume power is everywhere, it usually turns out to be nowhere very much; if it is analytically directionless, it scarcely needs to be taken into account. Our acceptance [...] of the truth that power is everywhere and that the weak, like the strong, play the game of power, has led us away from grasping the other truth that the players are not equal, that even multivalent systems can have internal movements preponderantly in one direction or another, that there are degrees of power, that a middle ground exists between an assumption of total agency and an assumption of total fixity - and that it is on this crucial middle ground that the most interesting questions are found and much interesting history happens."
Finally, the fact that Chakrabarty's archive is the Bengali middle-class male and that he, along with his associates, is mired in theorizing to the neglect of substantive research of subaltern history speaks for itself. ....
Book Description
Freeman's study of a forty-year-old untouchable, named Muli, is a welcome contribution to South Asian ethnography, offering unique insights into the impact of complex psychosocial and environmental forces on India's untouchable castes. . . . It also has broader implications for the understanding of oppressed peoples throughout the world. . . . The volume includes certain topics that have received little attention from anthropologists. There are chapters on 'oath friendships,' transvestites (male prostitutes), a symbolic marriage to a tree trunk, and several devastating chapters about the sexual exploitation of Bauri women by high-caste men. The text is full of rich information on social roles, family structure, marriage customs, and dishonesty among bureaucrats, priests, farmers, and even fellow Bauris." ---James J. Preston, "Journal of Psychological Anthropology"
Customer Reviews:
Readable and revealing.......2000-06-11
Reading this book was very satisfying to my curiosity. It only portrays one person's life, and that person is probably fairly unusual in some respects. But, as a transcribed and translated oral narrative from an "outcaste", it includes much authentic detail about the customs of life passages, such as in courtship and marriage, in childbirth, in death, and also the struggles of the village community theater group, as well as descriptions of true "daily life": obtaining food and eating, relationships between parents and children, wives and husbands, the complications of living within earshot of family and neighbors, traveling, finding work, getting paid, and even the activity I, a middle-class mall-culture American, refer to in public as "going to the bathroom". This book remains simultaneously frank and delicate, due to the particular propensities of the man Muli, the informant, and the faithful rendering of the author, James Freeman.
Freeman, an academic type, in the course of finding an informant who would be willing, for payment, to spend long hours talking and several months engaged in an activity that might be considered odd or even idle to his peers, came to undertake this work with Muli who turns out to be (in plain language) a pimp. It may be because Muli desires above all other things being connected with people of the highest castes that he cultivates delicacy when speaking of unsavory topics like "professional" sex, unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. He is a very gossipy man so he'll tell you everything he knows about his customers, his employees, and everyone else in his village, and while he excuses himself much, he seems never to cheat us by leaving out bad information about himself.
If this book were only about what it is like to be a pimp in rural India, it would not have been so interesting. Muli comes from an otherwise industrious family, who mainly do pick-up work in quarries and farm-fields, and tells much about them and about his own attempts to please his parents and general propriety by doing this work himself.
The first section of the book (about a chapter in length) is James Freeman's description of the undertaking itself, and for the remainder of the book, Freeman opens each chapter with a short explanatory synopsis (italicized, giving it a parenthetic feeling) followed by Muli's narrative. Muli is a smooth talker, an idler, a curious man who gets into everybody's business: he makes an unexpectedly perfect informant, resulting in a rich work.
Book Description
Both a magnificent celebration and a call for compassion, Himalaya is a panorama of the unique history and uncertain future of the world's highest region and its colorful inhabitants. The awesome beauty of these lofty peaks, including Everest, Kanchenjunga, and Annapurna, is brought to life by gifted photographers like Steve McCurry, Art Wolfe, and many more, while such notable contributors as Jimmy Carter, the Dalai Lama, Sir Edmund Hillary, Tenzing Norgay, and over two dozen others share vivid personal tales of Himalayan life, recount their efforts to encourage hope and opportunity, and emphasize the urgent need to preserve the vibrant variety of these ancient landscapes and cultures as they face the mixed blessings of the modern world.
The book begins by introducing the region: its astonishing biodiversity, its mountaineering history, its rich ethnic heritage, and the interplay between two major religions, Hinduism and Buddhism. Himalaya addresses challenges to these mountainous domains: political turmoil, population growth, touristic demands, and ecological stresses. Finally, a compelling conclusion comes in the stories of doctors, conservationists, environmentalists, and volunteers of every kind, whose efforts provide a global model for practical results and lasting relief, still respecting, honoring, and protecting the magic of a place unlike any other on Earth.
Customer Reviews:
A moving tribute to the Himalaya.......2007-06-07
This is a wonderful book for anyone who loves the great places of the world like the Himalaya. This is a great collection of stories by people who have fallen in love with the region, the people and the mountains. The basis for the book is to protect places, cultures and the people of an endangered region. A must have book for your collection.
Stunning and Moving.......2007-01-16
This is a wonderful essay book with stunning photography. The essays are from a diverse group - from world leaders to refugees, to mountain climbing legends. Together they tell the story of the Himalayas - its beauty, its culture, its challenges and the hope that so many people help to bring to this part of the world. I gave this book as a gift to many people for the holidays and everyone has mentioned to me that they have enjoyed reading it and it is often a conversation piece when people see it on the coffee table. I recommend it highly.
Himalaya Personal Stories of Grandeur, Challenge, and Hope.......2007-01-04
My Himalayan book shelf and coffee tables already groan, but I ordered this National Geographic beauty immediately. All at once I was reminded of the depth of love and anxiety I have about these young mountains and these very old people. I learned a lot, even considering that I'm privileged to spend at least a month in Nepal and nearby countries once a year over the last decade. Photographs of masters, spiritual seekers, and people lovers lead the way to understanding the powerful impact of just being in the magic presence of the peaks. They soar beyond the clouds; the people strive for spiritual peaks and life goals too. In editing a series of short contemporary, highly relevant, but personal articles, Richard Blum, Erica Stone, and Brot Coburn show readers what can be seen and what can be done to reach out to help ease burdens there. Mountaineers, trekkers, and couch climbers, helpers and those looking for a cause, travelers, pilgrims, and all of us seeking greater human understanding will relish the guiding words of His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, Sir Edmund and Peter Hillary, and Lodi Gyalsten Gyari. Everyone who loves the Himalayas or wants to get to know them MUST HAVE this well rounded easy to read, glorious to see, summary of current times in and under the mountains of the Gods.
Joyce Tapper
Los Angeles
A Himalayan Feast.......2006-12-01
This book would be worth buying for the photographs alone. There are well over 100 of them and nearly every one (as is appropriate for a National Geographic Society book) is of salon quality. But you shouldn't just look at the pictures. They are accompanied by 40 short pieces by a wide variety of people, each with a story to tell, either of how their life has been changed by their Himalayan experience, or how what they do is changing the life there. These are by leading Himalayan authorities in the climbing world (today's and yesterday's),in conservation, research, art restoration, human rights, development, and Buddhism. Among the authors are a former American president (Jimmy Carter) and a current US senator (Diane Feinstein), as well as leading Buddhist figures (including the Dalai Lama, who wrote one of the three introductory essays). You don't have to read all of these essays and yet, as you leaf through the book, you may find yourself doing just that. For one thing, they are short - two to three pages each. For another, these are personal stories, which means that in each case, the author connects himself with the subject he is describing, giving it an immediacy that it might otherwise lack. And for still another, they are talking about really interesting things - things like the region's problems, its wildlife, its earthquakes, its politics (a little bit), and - of course - their own experience there. The book has been produced by the National Geographic Society with the American Himalayan Foundation, and many of that organization's projects have been described. It is introduced by Richard Blum, who is its head and (with Erica Stone and Broughton Coburn) one of the book's three editors. He quotes the instructions of Lama Govinda, a 20th century holy man, on how to see a mountain: "To see the greatness of a mountain, one must keep one's distance. To understand its form, one must move around it. To experience the moods, one must see it at sunrise and sunset, at noon and at midnight, in sun and in rain, in snow and in storm, in summer and in winter and in all other seasons. He who can see the mountain like this comes near to the life of the mountain, a life that is as intense and varied as that of a human being."
If you are not in a position to do all this for the Himalaya, just read this book. It will get you close to an intense and varied experience of the world's most famous mountains and the people who live among them.
Book Description
This gripping portrait of the rapidly evolving socioeconomic life of Ladakh - the Western Himalayan land known as "Little Tibet" - offers crucial lessons in sustainable development as its people attempt to balance growth and technology with cultural values. This account moves from the author's first visit in idyllic, nonindustrial Ladakh in 1974 to the present, showing the profound changes as the region was opened to foreign tourists, Western artifacts and technologies, and pressures for economic growth. These changes brought generational conflict, unemployment, inflation, environmental damage, and threats to the traditional way of life.
Appalled at the negative changes, the author helped establish the Ladakh Project (later renamed the International Society for Ecology and Culture) to seek sustainable solutions to preserve cultural values and environmental health, while facilitating the Ladakhis' hunger for modernization. This model undertaking effectively combines educational programs for all social levels with the design, demonstration, and promotion of appropriate technologies such as solar heating and small-scale hydro power.
This examination of how modernization changes the way people live and think challenges us to redefine our concepts of "development" and "progress." More than anything else, Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh stresses the need for the global community to find ways to carry traditional wisdom into the future.
Customer Reviews:
ANOTHER WAY.......2002-12-16
After reading this book, I suddenly realized the root problem of Western Civilization: We have no culture. Where there was once culture, we now have an expanding economic order threatening all life on the planet. Through its mechanism of growth and expansion, the global economy is conquering and converting life's diversity into an ecological and social monoculture of cash crops, Levis, soda pop and movie theatres. Perhaps moonscape would be a better word. Of course, it doesn't have to be this way. Our fast-paced, increasingly technological, capital-intensive, fossil fuel-centered, centralized, highly specialized, travel and commercial-oriented, often stressful society is by no means the end-all-be-all of human history. Murder, child abuse, drug abuse, theft, poverty, hunger, and every other problem that plagues the West are not products of human nature. The pathology of civilization is not natural or inevitable, and the Ladakhi are proof of this. Read this book and rediscover ancient, profound, life-affirmating alternatives to the modern humdrum. Discover another way of living, thinking and feeling. Important, necessary, engaging and masterfully written - this book was a treasure to read. Indeed, it was an awaking.
A MUST READ
Inspiring.......2002-10-10
This book has changed the way I looked at the issues of development, modernisation & morals. An amazing read, beautifully written and with great insights.
I have just returned from a trip to Ladakh and I could really relate to what Ms.Norberg talks about in the book.
Just a couple of side issues. It'd be good to know what exactly went wrong in Ladakh. Here are a people who for 2000 years had lived successfully by the rules of Buddhism. How & why did Buddhism fail these people in the face of global/western economic & cultural imperialism? Does the blame lie with Buddhism- it being too 'compassionate' and allowing a religion? Does the blame lie with the Ladakhis who probably were not as sincere Buddhists as they are made out to be?
After all if they really were such devout Buddhists, how come they fell to the greed that capitalism breeds?
Anyway, these are issues which could have been addressed in the book. Regardless, the book is excellent! A must read.
Wonderful and Depressing.......2001-03-15
Rarely have I felt more dispair about the direction of what we know as civilization as I felt halfway through this book. The Ladakh people are described as happy, healthy, and self-reliant. Suddenly, the "real world" happens to them, and they come to see themselves as poor, when before they had no need of money.
The authors do a nice job of weaving a story of hope at the end but I have concern for the future of these people. It helps me understand the decision the government of Bhutan has made to isolate themselves from western-style civilization.
Riches to Rags.......2000-10-25
The first half of *Ancient Futures* will delight and amaze you; the second half will break your heart.
In the 1970s, the Ladakhis of Little Tibet were a happy people. They had a sustainable traditional economy based on trade and cooperation - not money. One person's gain was not another person's loss. There was plenty of leisure, no hunger or poverty, very little sickness or disease, everyone was valued, there was no pollution and nothing was wasted. They got along fine with their Muslim neighbors and they kept their population stable through marriage customs based on land use. Almost every family had a celibate monk or nun. Buddhist monasteries and people had a mutually beneficial economic, social and spiritual relationship. Ladakhis are a naturally contemplative people with a great deal of spiritual awareness. "Schon chan" (one who angers easily) is about the only insult in the Ladakhi lnaguage. "Lack of pride is a virtue, for pride, born of ego, has nothing to do with self-respect among these Buddhist people." The author says that it took her two years of living among them to realize that the people were genuinely and joyfully HAPPY. Then the world beat a path to their door and all that changed - in fewer than two decades.
It's like a little piece of cultural time-lapse photography. What took western culture more than four centuries to do to the Native-Americans took only twenty years here. Ladakh has become a cautionary tale and a monument to western greed and stupidity.
Now there is poverty and unemployment, stress-related disease, women are devalued, the people are ashamed of their "backward" culture, there is little leisure but a great deal of pollution and waste as well as dispute between Muslims and Buddhists and the population had increased markedly. ("Interestingly, a number of Ladakhis have linked the rise of birth rates to the advent of modern democracy. "Power is a question of votes" is a current slogan, meaning that, in the modern sector, the larger your group, the greater your access to power. Competition for jobs and political representation within the new centralized structures is increasingly dividing Ladakhis.")
Chiildren are trained to become specialists in a technological rather than an ecological society. They no longer have time to learn the superb survival techniques of their families. Western culture is creating artificial scarsity and inducing competition.
Now I understand the mechanism better. A culture that has a heavily subsidized infrastructure invades a traditional self-sustaining culture and creates artificial "needs." So they go to the city to earn money which they never needed before, leaving their farms and women, who are immediately devalued because they're not wage earners. The people are no longer planting, irrigating, spinning wool, gathering seeds, harvesting, playing music and singing and telling stories, having seasonal parties, marriage parties or funeral watches - together.
Time has become a commodity. It has become uneconomical to grow one's own food, make one's own clothes and build one's own house. You have to pay your neighbors for the work that the whole community used to do for free.
The men are in the cities earning money and the women are producing tourist commodities with the wool they used to spin for their own use and the food they used to grow for their own families. Now they grow cash crops for strangers so they can make enough money to buy polyester clothes and walkmans and jeans for their kids and food grown hundreds of miles away and fuel trucked in from afar.
The Yak and the Dzo, uniquely suited for high altitudes of Ladakh gave rich milk but not as much as western cattle. So what did the conquering culture do? They imported cattle that can't make it at such altitudes, so more land has to be relegated to planting crops to feed the cattle, thereby upsetting the balance. And they call this progress.
Why can't we just leave people alone - especially when they're doing FINE without us?
"When one-third of the world's population consumes two-thirds of the world's resources," says Norberg-Hodge, "and then in effect turns around and tells the others to do as they do, it is little short of a hoax. Development is all too often a euphemism for exploitation, a new colonialism."
All this would be a dismal tragedy comparable to Columbus's complete genocide of the Tainos if not for a "counter development" movement generated in part by this author. Since the Ladakhis can't go back, they can at least go forward. Instead of importing expensive fossil fuels (previously they had used yak dung and kept warm) they can have solar houses and greenhouses, which have worked very well and given them one benefit that they have previously not had. That's something. Information is another plus. The people are being made aware that westerners pay more for whole grains, organic vegetables, pure water, natural fibers, and natural building materials - things these people have had for a thousand years without money. This is something so-called third-world people are generally not told about.
Once in a while a book comes along that changes one's perspective forever. *Ancient Futures* is such a book. I haven't been the same since.
One of the reviewers on this site said he ended up buy copies for his friends. So have I. This book is a must-read for every person who is concerned about the preservation of our planet and our species.
pamhan99@aol.com
Intimate view of one society gives insights on our own.......2000-05-02
How does life in a non-industrial society compare to life in our own? In which society are people happier? If life in non-industrial societies compares favorably to life in our own, then why are the barrios of the third world filling up with migrants from remote villages? This book provides surprising insights into these questions. It also provokes reflections on our own society and its influence on the rest of the world. After reading a used copy I picked up for free, I bought seven copies of this book for friends and family!
Book Description
Labyrinths and mazes are found all over the world, and have been a source of intrigue and wonder throughout history. This richly illustrated and carefully documented standard work explores the manifold aspects of labyrinths - from their architectural, astrological, and mythological significance, to their iconographical, mathematical, amd artistic fascination, while also examining their socio-historical context.
Customer Reviews:
The Definative Primer on Labyrinths.......2005-07-25
The labyrinth is one of those symbols that have been found in almost every sacred tradition, from pre-historic to Grace Cathedral San Francsco. Unfortunately the richness of this symbol is not yet realized in the current rebirth of labyrinth popularity.
This book is the masterwork that shows the depth and diversity found in the tradition of the sacred path. LThe labyrinth story is told through many photographs of labyrinths from all cultures and belief systems. Especially fascinating are the classical Roman and Greek labyrinths, litte known great cathedral labyrinths, Hebraic labyrinths, Native American labyrinths, Hindi labyrinths.... I suppose you have the idea by now. The labyrith is a part of everyone's cultural and faith heritage. Find your's in this magnificent tome.
The Labyrinth Bible.......2003-12-21
This book is known by general consent as the "Labyrinth Bible" -the ultimate tool for the knowledge of the history and meaning of such a mysterious symbol.
Written by German lawyer and art historian Hermann Kern as a catalogue for a labyrinth exhibition hold at Milan, Italy, in 1981 this encyclopedic work covers the social and cultural world panorama from pre-history to modern times; the new English version is enriched with a new chapter by North-American expert Robert Ferré on modern labyrinth revival and with addenda written by British specialist Jeff Saward.
The cyclopic knowledge Hermann Kern shows in this complex, bewildering and paradoxical subject sounds sometimes ambivalent (like the symbol itself) but the book as a whole is a very good and important resource to understand the entangled complexity of this millenary symbol; with an almost thorough black-and-white catalogue (enriched with some magnificent colored photographs) of the most historical labyrinths known up to the 20th century; in addition to this the author approaches the several questions that baffle the labyrinth study like the origin of its conceptual idea or its symbolic meaning.
Historically the book is an impressive research from classical authors until recent geographical findings all over the world. However, his rationalistic approach misses the poetical (and potential) "Weltanschauung" needed to penetrate into the enlightened knowledge which transcends space, cultural concrete applications and time; besides this particular aspect this new version would deserve a better translation.
We, scholars, artists, researchers and enthusiasts are all indebted to Hermann Kern (as well as to Robert Ferré and Jeff Saward) for this (en)cyclopic work, which opened doors leading into the exciting field of further research.
The Labyrinth Bible.......2003-12-21
This book is known by general consent as the "Labyrinth Bible" -the ultimate tool for the knowledge of the history and meaning of such a mysterious symbol.
Written by German lawyer and art historian Hermann Kern as a catalogue for a labyrinth exhibition hold at Milan, Italy, in 1981 this encyclopedic work covers the social and cultural world panorama from pre-history to modern times; the new English version is enriched with a new chapter by North-American expert Robert Ferré on modern labyrinth revival and with addenda written by British specialist Jeff Saward.
The cyclopic knowledge Hermann Kern shows in this complex, bewildering and paradoxical subject sounds sometimes ambivalent (like the symbol itself) but the book as a whole is a very good and important resource to understand the entangled complexity of this millenary symbol; with an almost thorough black-and-white catalogue (enriched with some magnificent colored photographs) of the most historical labyrinths known up to the 20th century; in addition to this the author approaches the several questions that baffle the labyrinth study like the origin of its conceptual idea or its symbolic meaning.
Historically the book is an impressive research from classical authors until recent geographical findings all over the world. However, his rationalistic approach misses the poetical (and potential) Weltanschauung needed to penetrate into the enlightened knowledge which transcends space, cultural concrete applications and time; besides this particular aspect this new version would deserve a better translation.
We, scholars, artists, researchers and enthusiasts are all indebted to Hermann Kern (as well as to Robert Ferré and Jeff Saward) for this (en)cyclopic work, which opened doors leading into the exciting field of further research.
World's greatest labyrinth compendium.......2000-03-01
A museum curator, Hermann Kern spent six years researching labyrinths for an exhibition in Italy in 1980. He then expanded that information and assembled the most complete compendium of labyrinth information ever assembled, from history to the modern era. Published by Prestel, a company in Munich, Germany, that specializes in art books, this compendium was available only in German until the current English edition, which took three years to translate and update. New material has been added to cover discoveries and contemporary labyrinths of the last 20 years, making this the most complete presentation of labyrinth information anywhere. It contains hundreds of photos. Granted, Hermann Kern is quite opinionated and confident of his opinions. Nevertheless, any serious labyrinth enthusiast should own this book. I rate it four rather than five stars because, except for a color section in the beginning, all of the photos are in black and white.
Average customer rating:
- Good Introduction with photos, illustrations and facts
- Excellent reference book!
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Cultural Atlas of India: India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka (Cultural Atlas of)
Gordon Johnson
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ASIN: 0816030138 |
Customer Reviews:
Good Introduction with photos, illustrations and facts.......2001-10-17
I was searching for a good book on India, with a historical bent, as a gift for a friend here in the US. This book provides a very good introduction with pictures, illustrations and relevant facts. The book provides a general outline of history and more importantly also introduces the reader to the general mindset & prevailing conditions ("cultural atlas") in India. It also provides some basic information on the states and neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan & Burma.
The special features sections focus on the things that people of India are most likely to be known about. Most people will not remember everything about a culture/nation. They will probably remember only the most interesting things and the special features of this book present these in a clear, understandable manner, i.e mostbly agreeable to people like me who have grown up in India.
Non-fiction books are hard to read for some people, these people are looking to escape from the ordinary. This book will interest the reader into reading & learning more about India. As for fantasy the readers might want to try tales, parables and comics like Jataka stories, Amar Chitra Katha...
Excellent reference book!.......1999-08-17
As an Indian, I'm wary when "outsiders" put together a book on my country, but this book is exceptional. It gives facts and general descriptions of anything and everything when one thinks of India. Lots of pictures makes it an easy read. Worth every penny. This is the book teachers in America should use when trying to give an overview on INDIA.
Book Description
This book looks at colonialism in its social, political and psychological context. The author suggests that the fundamental character of colonialism is not so much economic or technological domination, but cultural subservience of the indigenous people, and the cultural arrogance of the rulers. Nandy bases his thesis largely on a study of Gandhi and Kipling in colonial India. The book is in two parts: The Psychology of Colonialism: Sex, Age, and Ideology, and part two: The Uncolonized Mind: A Post-colonial View of India and the West.
Customer Reviews:
Very very interesting.......2007-08-13
This book cannot be read fast. I first heard of this philosopher on the French Cultural Radio in a program on Islam in India. If you know about Franz Fanon and other psycho-sociologists like Erik Fromm etc but you don't know about the consequences of colonization in the Sub-continent, this book is for you.
Books:
- David Humphreys' "Life of General Washington": With George Washington's "Remarks"
- East Asia: A Cultural, Social, And Political History
- First Crusader: Byzantium's Holy Wars
- Flags of Our Fathers
- Flawless Execution: Use the Techniques and Systems of America's Fighter Pilots to Perform at Your Peak and Win the Battles of the Business World
- Flotsam (Caldecott Medal Book)
- Fundamentalism and American Culture (New Edition)
- German Paratroops, Uniforms, Insignia & Equipment of the Fallschirmjager in Wwii: Uniforms, Insignia & Equipment of the Fallschirmjager in World War II (Schiffer Military History)
- Giants in Their Tall Black Hats: Essays on the Iron Brigade (Great Lakes Connections: The Civil War)
- Guantanamo and the Abuse of Presidential Power
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need, New Edition
- Larklight: A Rousing Tale of Dauntless Pluck in the Farthest Reaches of Space
- Basilica: The Splendor and the Scandal: Building St. Peter's
- Design and Analysis of Ecological Experiments
- From Caterpillar to Butterfly
- Measuring Performance in Public and Nonprofit Organizations
- He Shall Thunder in the Sky
- Bernard Maybeck at Principia College
- Castles of the Samurai: Power and Beauty
- The Acanthaceae of Columbia
An Introduction to Hinduism (Introduction to Religion)
Sources of Indian Tradition
The Bhagavad-Gita : Krishna's Counsel in Time of War (Bantam Classics)
Upanisads (Oxford World's Classics)
Samskara: A Rite for a Dead Man (Oxford India Paperbacks)
Incomplete.......2007-08-03
