Days and Nights on the Grand Trunk Road: Calcutta to Khyber
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Book Overview
Novelist and travel writer Anthony Weller takes readers on a 1,500-mile journey along an ancient trading road through India and PakistanFor more than 30 centuries, travelers have walked, ridden, prayed, fought, and died along the Grand Trunk. Its 1,500 miles straddle the vast cultures, landscapes, and politics of India and Pakistan, from Calcutta all the way to the Khyber Pass.Anthony Weller's remarkable book traces the story of this ancient route from its origins as a path through woods, fields, and jungles to the horsecart road immortalized in Rudyard Kipling's Kim. He captures the road's Just, heat, villages, and temples as well as tales of its wayfarers, from Buddha in his moment of enlightenment to the Sikhs in their present unrest. Great religions were born on it; empires and invaders have struggled to control it; and merchants have staked their lives on it. Today, it remains the economic lifeline of one-quarter of the world's people.Weller gives us both the road's dramatic history and a modern portrait of the Asian subcontinent. He meets the people whose ancestors lived and died along the Grand Trunk as well as the truckers who rule today and brings alive the only man-made artery that still links India and Pakistan.
Format:Hardcover
Language:English
ISBN:156924751X
ISBN13:9781569247518
Release Date:August 1997
Publisher:Marlowe & Company
Length:383 Pages
Weight:1.55 lbs.
Dimensions:1.4" x 6.4" x 9.3"
Customer Reviews
4 ratings
Entertaining and informative
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 16 years ago
This was a joyful read... entertaining as well as informative. I enjoyed his sense of humor and descriptions which brought back memories of the hardships & fun of travel while trying to make some meaning of it all. This is a book I'd take to India and Pakistan while travelling or read it after you return. You'll enjoy! I'll read again.
learning
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 23 years ago
A. Weller is a superb writer, I learned more about India in 10 pages than I could have in a year of school. Although the names, and dates can be eye crossing after awhile, it only showed me that mr. Weller did a ton of research, and cut no corners' in writing this book. From keen observations interspersed with humerous encounters with strangers' and beauracratic red tape, I applaud mr. Weller for writting a book the he could be proud of first, and not an "India for dummies". Rock on Tony!!
Weller blends 3000 years of history with contemporary life.
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago
Travelling along the GT Road is an expirience that one never forgets.The author gives an historical perspective of the points along the GT Road. He starts out in Calcutta, the city built by the Raj. Along the way he finds the foundations of the Jain and Buddhist religions. Weller writes about thses religions in an objective manner and gives a clear concise history of the religions along with their beliefs. Between these highlights he meets present day Indians. What he puts into words is what I thought but could not expess myself, both humorously and insightfully. I had lived in India for two years while serving in the Peace Corps. I felt the same frustrations he did in communicating and dealing with the bureaucracy.This is an excellent book for one intending to travel through the subcontinent or has spent some time there.
Great read about contemporary India
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 26 years ago
Reading this book was a great way to take a journey from home. Weller makes great observations about everyday encounters while en route through Northern India. From truck drivers to border guards to off the beaten track historic sites, Weller informs and entertains. I was suprised that the book educates as it entertains. Weller explains various history and religon in a manner that is never boring.
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