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Empires of the Indus: The Story of a River [Paperback]

Alice Albinia
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: John Murray (19 Feb 2009)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0719560055
  • ISBN-13: 978-0719560057
  • Product Dimensions: 13 x 2.5 x 19.7 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 202,670 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Alice Albinia
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Product Description

Review

'Impressive and original ...In the course of her journey, Albinia encounters all kinds of danger, and at times her courage tips her into foolhardiness ... This however, is the behaviour we expect of the best kind of travel writer.' 

(Peter Parker, Daily Telegraph 20080518)

'Empires of the Indus is a magnificent book, a triumphant melding of travel and history into a compelling story of adventure and discovery ... an inspiring book, and readers with even a fraction of Albinia's wanderlust will want to set off on their own explorations.'

(Paddy Docherty, Financial Times 20080518)

'Such an accomplished first book'

(The Sunday Times 20080518)

'In an engaging blend of travel writing and history, journalist Albinia charts the course of the longest river in the Indian subcontinent.'

(Financial Times )

'Its originality, enthusiasm and understanding add up to a memorable, illuminating read.'

(Scotsman )

'Imaginatively structured'

(Scotland on Sunday )

'As the first book of a young writer, it's an impressive achievement'

(New Statesman )

'The truly great achievement of this book is to reveal, unflinchingly and with panache, the rich and varied heritage of the Indus in all its appalling spleandour'

(Guardian )

'Alice Albinia is well placed to unpick the country's complex history in this impressive debut'

(Independent )

'I have travelled much of the territory described here but I cannot say that I remotely knew it until I read this wonderful book. With her debut work Alice Albinia is set to take her place alongside the greats like Eric Newby and Colin Thubron. Her prose is lucid and entertaining and her insights invariably penetrating'

(Fergal Keane )

Product Description

One of the largest rivers in the world, the Indus rises in the Tibetan mountains, flows west across northern India and south through Pakistan. For millennia it has been worshipped as a god; for centuries used as a tool of imperial expansion; today it is the cement of Pakistans fractious union.



Five thousand years ago, a string of sophisticated cities grew and traded on its banks. In the ruins of these elaborate metropolises, Sanskrit-speaking nomads explored the river, extolling its virtues in Indias most ancient text, the Rig-Veda. During the past two thousand years a series of invaders - Alexander the Great, Afghan Sultans, the British Raj - made conquering the Indus valley their quixotic mission. For the people of the river, meanwhile, the Indus valley became a nodal point on the Silk Road, a centre of Sufi pilgrimage and the birthplace of Sikhism.



Empires of the Indus follows the river upstream and back in time, taking the reader on a voyage through two thousand miles of geography and more than five millennia of history redolent with contemporary importance.


(20080607)

Inside This Book (Learn More)
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Amazing journey... 27 Oct 2010
By rkm
Format:Paperback
Fascinating and extraordinary story of a journey south to north the length of Pakistan. I picked this book up a month or so before the recent Indus river floods and have found it invaluable in understanding the historical background of some of the affected areas, touching as it does on the recent and ancient past of South Asia and the non-Islamic cultures and religions of parts of Pakistan. Albinia has a nice touch, occasionally letting you share her feelings and frustrations, but never so much as to distract from the journey itself. As one of the other reveiwers has mentioned, more detailed maps accompanying each chapter would have helped you understand exactly where the author was at any given point in time. Nevertheless, highly recommended.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By Ismene
Format:Paperback
Alice Albinia has written a fascinating and extremely informative account of her excursion following the River Indus from Karachi to its source in Tibet. If you like travelling from the comfort of your armchair then join Alice on her journey of discovery and learn about the range of peoples and customs she encounters along the way. She is such an intrepid traveller and her knowledge of languages and cultural customs is outstanding; so is her ability to describe her experiences, placing landscape and belief systems in historical and political contexts, to the general reader. The finale of Alice's trek makes compelling reading - will she or won't she discover the source of this majestic river? Will she manage to navigate an extremely daunting terrain? Hold your breath, read it and find out........ I hope Alice is busy writing her next book, I can't wait to go exploring again.....
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Highly recommended 21 Nov 2011
By Mir
Format:Paperback
Alice's book should be given as a must read to all the politician and people with pre-conceived ideas on Pakistan (through the recent war on terror). She amazingly retraces the rich history of this country through thousands of years of civilizations based in the Indus valley. As a Pakistani, I have learnt more from this book on my own country's past than from any other source. thanks Alice!
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