Fans pick 100 books like Inglorious Empire

To understand India it is important to know that it was the birthplace of four great religions, Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. The Buddha was a Vedic teacher with a following in North East India. The emperor Ashoka was responsible for spreading the religion we know as Buddhism. Ashok Khanna’s account of Ashoka, the ruler of the Indian subcontinent for 37 years from 269 BCE traces the important influences Greek and Persian philosophy had on Indian society and the origins of Buddhism. Khanna describes Ashoka’s carved edicts on pillars and rocks extolling justice based on equal treatment for all. Ashoka is a much-needed example of good governance and Khanna’s account is assessable. You don’t need to know anything about Ashoka to read this book.  

If you already know a lot about India and are interested in an unusual insight into the role of temples in the history, culture, architecture, and myths of the subcontinent, then this is for you. It will also introduce you to thirteen writers who include journalists, academics, and authors. Each one was asked to write about one temple, recounting its origins and the mythology and history surrounding it. It’s beautifully illustrated by Mistunee Choudhury. You can enhance the experience by googling the locations. It has introduced me to some must-see places to go on my want to visit list. I visited the unforgettable temples of Khajuraho and they appear in my own book.

I love a good adventure tale, and this one is set on the high seas and spans countries and cultures. I’ll never forget the character of Kalua, an untouchable man of enormous size and strength who saves a woman from horrible abuse at the hands of her own family. It’s just one example of a rich cast of characters who held my rapt attention.

It is possibly the oldest surviving collection of 84 Indian fables, written around 200BC by Vishnu Sharma. He became a tutor to a king’s children. He engaged their interest by telling stories of animals with a moral message at end of each story rather like Aesop’s Fables. The animals are somewhat different. e.g The Monkey and the Crocodile, the Hare and Lion. Many elements of Rudyard Kipling’s children’s books such as the Just So Stories were inspired by The Panchatantra. There are of course Hindi editions available too.

In late 2013, during one of my many visits to Kathmandu as the lead of the UK Nepal Friendship Society, I was privileged to be engaged and presented with a copy of this just-published book.

For any non-South Asian person with a passion for learning about the esoteric and spiritual heritages of South Asia, this book is a true, precious treasure of the rarest and highest kind for students of those precious and vibrant heritages in which the spiritual concepts of profound ethical, personal self-development, and respect for the unique role in both of the latter regarding Nature in all her profound manifestations (including sexual love) and of global value and significance! 

This book is rightly in my top five ‘must-read’ books list. It provides essential reading for anyone interested in the Gurkha golden thread from the earliest days of the creation of the state [formerly kingdom] of Nepal, the Gurkhas' crucial role in British history of the colonial period, and the unlooked-for race relations impacts in the UK of the 2020s. 

As an intercultural educationalist of Nepali culture and respected ally of the Gurkha community (providing three BBC TV News live interviews across the period of the heroic Gurkha Satyagraha – whose lead personally presented me with Mr. Gurung’s groundbreaking book – hunger strike for Gurkha rights and pensions in summer 2021), I commend ‘Ayo Gorkhali’ as essential reading for historians of the Nepal–UK bitter-sweet relationship. 

I was privileged to read Dr O’Brien’s book at his personal invitation before its formal launch. This arose from a shared interest in past/historical through to current threats to the achievements of inclusive, prejudice-free values, freedom of thought and expression, and respecting liberal values in parliamentary democracies.

Through ground-breaking research and masterly thought-provoking analysis of findings, this book evaluates the threats posed by totalitarian and authoritarian non-inclusive ideologies, political forces, and their justifiers and apologists.

It also examines the crucial role of supportive, disingenuous yet effective propaganda—from today's "fake news" (Trumpian, Brexit, anti-Trans, etc.) to state forces manipulating populist sentiments—enabling brutal and ethically unacceptable phenomena such as colonialism/neo-colonialism, 20th-century Nazism, Stalinism, and current menaces.

I strongly recommend this book as the most authoritative English-language publication on Nepali cuisines. The book’s thematic structure and details of the range of Nepali dishes and food types place it in a class of its own.

Pathek’s mastery of ‘about’ and ‘how to’ detail is matched by his passion for the subject concerned; it sets a ‘gold standard’ for communication to the English-speaking world at both home cookery and professional levels regarding this still little-known cuisine in the West and outside of South Asia. 

I make this commendation as an educationalist–‘Foods of Nepal resource (with culture minister and TV chef commendations)–with my colleague Deepak Tamrakar, guided by his brother [a respected chef] Suraj, recognized in this area. 

I loved the way this anti-colonial narrative turns our idea of colonialism in India on its head. It goes beyond the obvious wrongs of the Raj to examine the 17th—and 18th-century roots of the empire—namely, the corporate greed, corruption, and outsized influence of the East India Company. It's an incredible read!

What if you wanted to practice law in India in 1922?

Women weren't allowed in court, but Perveen Mistry becomes a solicitor instead, working behind the scenes on wills and estate files. Perveen's gender becomes an asset when she can speak to women in purdah, a practice where women seclude themselves from men in some Muslim or Hindu communities.

I liked the first book, The Widows of Malabar Hill, but truly enjoyed The Satapur Moonstone, where Perveen heads out to the Sahyadri mountains to help a royal family after the maharaja has died and the crown prince is too young to rule.

In addition to the mystery, and learning about the history of India, I could hear the buzz of mosquitoes, the tree frogs peeping, and the hooting of owls, as well as imagine the tigers and leopards in the jungle.