Review: Reads Like a Jr. High Book Report
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 3, 2013
Having Lived in India for many years I thought I would look for a nice little book that I could send friends and family.  While this one has some nice photographs courtesy of wikimedia, according to the copyright page, they are small and a bit blah.As this volume was a general introduction, I was not expecting a detailed history, but it would have been nice to have more human stories during the history section.  It seemed more like a list of eras than a grand history.Statements such as this without any example leave the reader left hanging."The assimilation has in turn produced many regional variations i.e., what's common at one place is rare at the other, and what is accepted at one place is forbidden in another."The descriptions of the festivals and holidays were lackluster and lacked any fun details.  Nor were there any photographs to show the types of celebrations that do happen.  i.e.  no Republic Day Parade Photo, Holi, or Rakhi.The description of Indian food was disappointing as Indian food has a wide variety and is influenced by so many things.  In the south coconut is heavily used.  In the north mustard oil, seeds and leaves can be found.  Coastal areas have much more fish than inland areas.Overall I found this "General Knowledge Book", to be lacking in specifics, lacking in illustrations and lacking in excitement.  This book would not entice me to read more.If you just need to read general facts this book is fine.  However, if you wish to be enticed this is a bit sterile for my liking.ETA it was brought to my attention that there are other accepted spellings of Diwali,  I can say that I have seen Deepawali, however, I have never seen Deevali.  In the north  where I live the usual spelling is Diwali.  Although I have normally seen mugal spelled Mughal or mogul, I have in good conscience removed a comment about spelling as Diwali and Mughal are the only ones that irked me.  I have also changed my recommendation as I do not feel this is a bad book, I just feel that it is lacking the excitement that is India.