I read this book to prepare for my trip to India next week. I didn’t know very much about India’s history other than a vague notion of Alexander The Great trying to invade it, the Mughals ruling it at some point, and then first the East India Company and last the British Empire colonizing it.

Zubrzycki gives a decent high-level overview of India’s history from the Harappān civilization (c. 3300 - 1300 BCE), via subsequent Muslim invasions via modern-day Iran and Afghanistan, then British rule, and lastly its independence in 1947. He also explains Pakistan’s origin story and its dispute with India over the Kashmir region, and intra-India Hindu-Muslim tension.