William Dalrymple The Golden Road How Ancient India Transformed World 2025

Synopsis

<p><b>THE INSTANT <i>SUNDAY TIMES</i> BESTSELLER</b><br> <b>A <i>Waterstones</i> and <i>TIMES</i> HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR</b><b><br> A <i>SPECTATOR</i> and <i>History Today</i> BOOK OF THE YEAR</b><br> <br> <b>A revolutionary new history of the diffusion of Indian ideas, from the award-winning, bestselling author and co-host of the chart-topping</b> <i><b>Empire</b></i> <b>podcast</b><br> <br> <b>'Richly woven, highly readable ... Written with passion and verve' <i>Spectator</i></b><br> <b>'Dazzling ... Not just a historical study but also a love letter' <i>Guardian</i></b><br> <b>'</b><b>An outstanding new account ...</b> <b>The most compelling retelling we have had for generations</b><b>' <i>Financial Times</i></b><br> <br> <i>India is the forgotten heart of the ancient world.</i><br> <br> In the millennium and a half from c. 250 BC to 1200 AD, Indian art, religion, technology, astronomy, music, dance, literature, mathematics and mythology blazed a trail across the world - a Golden Road that stretched from the Red Sea to the Pacific.<br> <br> Here, William Dalrymple draws from a lifetime of scholarship to highlight India's oft-forgotten position as the heart of ancient Eurasia. For the first time, he gives a name to this spread of Indian ideas that transformed the culture and technology of not only its ancient world, but of the world as we know it today.<br> <b><br> Praise for William Dalrymple and <i>The Anarchy</i></b><br> <br> <b>'A superb historian with a visceral understanding of India' <i>The Times</i></b><br> <b>'</b><b>Magnificently readable, deeply researched and richly atmospheric' Francis Wheen,</b> <b><i>Mail on Sunday</i></b></p>