History
" Jad Adams and Phillip Whitehead   The Dynasty: The Nehru-Gandhi Story (Penguin). A brilliant and intriguing account of India's most famous - or infamous - family and the way its various personalities have shaped post-Independence India, although Sonia Gandhi's recent prominence rather begs an update.

A.L. Basham   The wonder that was India (South Asia Books). Learned survey of Indian history, society, music, art and literature from 400 BC to the coming of the Muslims. Volume II, by S A Rizvi, brings it up to the arrival of the British.

Judith M. Brown   Gandhi and Civil Disobedience (Yale). Pragmatic view of Gandhi's politics, which, refreshingly, doesn't resort to hagiography.

Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre   Freedom at Midnight (HarperCollins). Readable, if shallow, account of Independence, highly sympathetic to the British and, particularly, to Mountbatten, who was the authors' main source of information.

" Patrick French   Liberty or Death (Flamingo). The definitive account (and a damning indictment) of the last years of the British Raj. Material from hitherto unreleased intelligence files shows how Churchill's "florid incompetence" and Atlee's "feeble incomprehension" contributed to the debacle that was Partition.

" Bamber Gascoigne   The Great Moghuls (Constable, London). By far the most interestingly written account of lives of the first six Great Moghuls, richly illustrated with photos of the surviving monuments and details from original art works. Essential reading if you plan to explore Agra and Delhi in any depth.

Richard Hall   Empires of the Monsoon (Harper Collins). An impeccably researched account of early colonial expansion into the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, tracing the web of trade connections binding Europe, Africa and the subcontinent.

Lawrence James   Raj: the Making and Unmaking of British India (Abacus, UK). A door-stopping 700-page history of British rule in India, drawing on recently released official papers and private memoirs. The most up-to-date, erudite survey of its kind, and unlikely to be bettered as a general introduction.

" John Keay   India: a History (HarperCollins). In this, the most recent of his five consistently excellent books on India, John Keay manages to coax clear, impartial and highly readable narrative from 5000 years of fragmented events, spiced up with a liberal dose of fascinating snippets. Arguably the best single-volume history currently in print.

Romila Thapar   History of India Volume I (Penguin). Concise paperback account of early Indian history, ending with the Delhi Sultanate. Percival Spear's History of India Volume II covers the period from the Moghul era to the death of Gandhi.

Mark Tully and Satish Jacob   Amritsar: Mrs Gandhi's Last Stand (Penguin India). Aptly named examination of the storming of the Golden Temple and the prime minister's eventual assassination.

Society
Trevor Fishlock   India File (John Murray). The latest edition of this now classic analysis of contemporary Indian society includes essays on the Golden Temple siege and the rise of Rajiv Gandhi. Recommended as an all-round introduction. ...
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Travel
Bill Aitken   Nanda Devi Affair (Penguin). Slow but deeply personal account of the author's long-standing love of the Indian Himalayas and his constant ambition to climb the elusive Nanda Devi peak. " William Dalrymple ...
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Fiction
Anita Desai   Feasting and Fasting (Vintage).This, the most recent novel by one of India's leading female authors, eloquently portrays the frustration of a sensitive young woman stuck in the stifling atmosphere of home while her spoilt...
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Biography and autobiography
J.R. Ackerley   Hindoo Holiday (Penguin). During the 1920s, a gay and eccentric pal of E.M. Forster steps into the bizarre world of an even more gay and eccentric maharaja seeking a tutor for his eighteen-month-old son.

Charles Allen   Plain Tales from the Raj (Abacus). First-hand accounts from erstwhile sahibs and memsahibs of everyday British India, organized thematically.

James Cameron   An Indian Summer (Penguin). Affectionate and humorous description of the veteran British journalist's visit to India in 1972, and his marriage to an Indian woman. Somewhat dated, but an enduring classic.

Gayatri Devi   A Princess Remembers (Rupa, India). Nostalgic reminiscences of life as Maharani of Jaipur and as a politician by "one of the world's most beautiful women".

" M.K. Gandhi   The Story of My Experiments with Truth (Penguin). Gandhi's fascinating records of his life, including the spiritual and moral quests, changing relationship with the British Government in India, and gradual emergence into the fore of politics.

H.H. the Dalai Lama   Freedom in Exile (Harper). Moving autobiography, full of humility and wisdom, and account of the Tibetan situation, told with dignity, beauty and clarity.

Paramahansa Yogananda   Autobiography of a Yogi (Self Realization Fellowship). Uplifting account of religious awakening and spiritual development by one of the most influential Hindu masters to leave India and bring her teachings to the West.

Women
" Elizabeth Bumiller   May You Be the Mother of a Hundred Sons (Fawcett Books/Penguin India). Lucid exploration of the Indian woman's lot, drawn from dozens of first-hand encounters by an American journalist. Sashi...
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Development and the environment
Julia Cleves Mosse   India: Paths to Development (Oxfam). Concise analysis of the economic, environmental and political changes affecting India, focusing on the lives of ordinary poor people and the exemplary ways some have succeeded in shaping their own future. The best country brief on the market, but only available through Oxfam, and now somewhat out of date.

" Helena Norberg-Hodge   Ancient Futures: Learning From Ladakh (Rider). An overview of Ladakh's traditional, ecologically balanced way of life, followed up by an analysis of the ways in which modern developments (notably tourism) have impinged upon it.

" Jeremy Seabrook   Notes from Another India (Pluto Press). Life histories and interviews - compiled over a year's travelling and skilfully contextualized - reveal the everyday problems faced by Indians from a variety of backgrounds, and how grassroots groups have tried to combat them. One of the soundest, and most engaging, overviews of Indian development issues ever written.

" Palagummi Sainath   Everybody Loves a Good Drought (Penguin, India). A classic report on India's poorest districts, telling the stories of individual villages that are usually lost in a maze of development statistics. Its harrowing case studies caused uproar in the capital, galvanizing the government into some drastic aid programmes. A polished view on an India few visitors see.

The arts and architecture
Roy Craven   Indian Art (Thames & Hudson). Concise general introduction to Indian art, from Harappan seals to Moghul miniatures, with lots of illustrations.

Mohan Khokar   Traditions of Indian Classical Dance (Clarion Books, India). Detailing the religious and social roots of Indian dance, this lavishly illustrated book, with sections on regional traditions, is an excellent introduction to the subject.

George Michell   The Hindu Temple (University of Chicago Press). A fine primer, introducing Hindu temples, their significance, and architectural development.

Bonnie C. Wade   Music in India: The Classical Traditions (Manmohar, India). A scrupulous catalogue of Indian music, outlining the most commonly used instruments, with illustrations and musical scores.

Stuart Cary Welch   India: Art and Culture 1300-1900 (Prestel). Originally produced for an exhibition at New York's Metropolitan museum, this exquisitely illustrated and accessibly written tome covers every aspect of India's rich and varied culture. Highly recommended.

Religion
" Diana L. Eck   Banaras - City of Light (o/p). Thorough disquisition on the religious significance of Varanasi; a good introduction to the practice of Hindu cosmology. Her latest book, Encountering God , uses Christianity as a reference point for an exploration of the common ground between Hinduism and Buddhism.

" Dorf Hartsuiker   Sadhus: Holy Men of India (Inner Traditions International). The weird world of India's itinerant ascetics exposed in glossy colour photographs and erudite but accessible text.

J.R. Hinnelle (ed) A Handbook of Living Religions (Penguin). The beliefs, practices, iconography and historical roots of all India's major faiths explained in accessible language, with full bibliographies to back up each chapter. Deservedly the most popular book of its kind in print, and an ideal in-depth introduction.

" Roger Housden   Travels through Sacred India (o/p). A gazetteer of holy places, listings of ashrams and lively essays on temples, sadhus , gurus and sacred sites. Hudson derives much of his material from personal encounters, which bring the subjects to life. Includes sections on all India's main faiths, and an excellent bibliography.

Christmas Humphries   Buddhism (Penguin). Dated, and short on rituals and practices, but still the clearest, most readable work on the philosophy and beliefs of the various strands of Buddhism.

Wendy O'Flaherty (transl.) Hindu Myths (Penguin). Translations of key myths from the original Sanskrit texts, providing an insight into the foundations of Hinduism.

Charlie Pye-Smith   Rebels and Outcasts: A Journey through Christian India (Penguin). An Englishman's encounters with clerics, congregations and NGOs from the full gamut of denominations. The most up-to-date survey on the subject, although unlikely to appeal to non-Christians.