Kashmir, Kashmir

In a lively and uniquely comprehensive narrative of Kashmir’s past and current predicament, the book reinstates the cultural and political centrality of one of Asia’s most cherished but maligned states.

What is it about this place that makes it so sought after, and fought over? Is it just an accident of geography that lends it such strategic importance? Or is it more to do with the observation of Emperor Jehangir: ‘If there is a paradise on Earth, this is it, this is it, this is it’?

Answering these questions and more, Kashmir, Kashmir is a truly comprehensive history, spanning more than a millennium but with particular focus on post-Partition and contemporary tensions.

Reviews

PRAISE FOR MIDNIGHT'S DESCENDANTS:

‘Keay’s excellent new book on the modern history of South Asia plunges the reader head first into some wildly swirling currents … His work is descriptive, panoramic, a large-scale survey of titanic struggles and the extraordinary survival of democracies’ Spectator

‘This absorbing, important history of South Asia over the six decades since British India was partitioned is the first time a book has been written on the history of this region as a whole’ Independent

‘A manifest triumph’ Literary Review

From the reviews of India: A History:

‘It is hard to imagine anyone succeeding more gracefully in producing a balanced overview than John Keay has done in “India”… a book that is as fluent and readable as it is up-to-date and impartial. Hardly a page passes without some fascinating nugget or surprising fact’ William Dalrymple, Guardian

‘Certainly the most balanced and lucid history… his passion for India shines through and illuminates every page… puts Keay in the front rank of Indian historiographers.’ Charles Allen, Spectator

‘Keay’s astute commentary on the development of Indian history is a delight… one of the best general studies of the subcontinent.’ Andrew Lycett, Sunday Times

About the author

John Keay is the author of four acclaimed histories: 'The Honourable Company', 'Last Post', about the imperial disengagement of the Far East; the two-volume 'Explorers of the Western Himalayas' and 'India: A History'. His books on India include 'India Discovered', 'Into India' and 'The Great Arc: The Dramatic Tale of How India was Mapped and Everest was Named'. John Keay is married with four children, lives in Scotland and is co-editor with Julia Keay of the 'Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland'.