I immediately warmed to these two volumes for three reasons. Firstly, the nice get-up—attractive red and yellow covers dotted with what at first glance seemed like emojis. On a closer look they turned out to be tiny portraits, objects and monuments and a very catholic choice also—a kullar of tea, a Harappan seal, a cell phone, a veena, a temple bell, Alexander, The Buddha, Akbar, Tipu Sultan, Rani Jhansi, Jinnah, Nehru, Ambedkar, Manmohan Singh, Narendra Modi, Amitabh Bacchan, Gol Gumbaz, Taj Mahal… a foretaste of the range covered by the authors. Secondly, the couplet from Firaq Gorakhpuri quoted at the head of the Introduction.

Books For Beginners
Partho Datta
THE HISTORY OF INDIA FOR CHILDREN, VOL 1: FROM PREHISTORY TO THE SULTANATES/THE HISTORY OF INDIA FOR CHILDREN, VOL 2: FROM THE MUGHALS TO THE PRESENT by Archana Garodia Gupta Hachette India, 2018, 394 pp., 399
November 2018, volume 42, No 11