Incarnations

Sunil Khilnani

To sketch the story of India, the historian Sunil Khilnani explores the lives of 50 individuals, among them Buddha, Kabir, Shivaji, Aryabhata, Amir Khusrao and Mirabai. The book, which focuses on the country’s history of ideas on topics such as philosophy, religion and social reform, grew out of Khilnani’s BBC Radio 4 series, for which he visited the home towns of his many profile subjects in order to appreciate how their legacies influence today’s India.

Penguin Books, 656 pages, Rs 999