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Enrich your travels with reading! Here's a hand-picked list prepared for your journey in conjunction with the book experts at Longitude.

Item EXIDA259. Buy these 5 items as a set for $95 including shipping, 15% off the retail price.
With free shipping on anything else you order.

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Eyewitness Guide Delhi, Agra and Jaipur

by Anuradha Chaturvedi

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2010
• PAPER
• 320 PAGES

With chapters on Taj Mahal, Amber Fort Palace, Keoladeo Ghana National Park, Red Fort and dozens of other highlights for the traveler, this compact, gorgeously illustrated guide to Delhi and its environs features 900 color photographs, maps and site plans. (IDA151, $25.00)

India

by Stanley Wolpert

• HISTORY
• 2009
• PAPER
• 281 PAGES

Reflections on India -- religion and philosophy, art, culture, and politics -- by the dean of its American historians: beautifully written, and provocative as well as evocative. (IDA04, $24.95)

Taj Mahal

by Giles Tillotson | Mary Beard

• ART & ARCHITECTURE
• 2008
• HARD COVER
• 190 PAGES

An enlightening pocket guide to the myth, meaning and legends of the celebrated tomb, "the queen of architecture." (IDA528, $19.95)

Mirrorwork, 50 Years of Indian Writing 1947-1997

by Salman Rushdie | Elizabeth West

• ANTHOLOGY
• 1997
• PAPER
• 554 PAGES

A selection of 20th-century Indian prose, both fiction and non-fiction, compiled by Salman Rushdie and featuring work by Jawaharlal Nehru, R.K. Narayan, Satyajit Ray, Amit Chaudhuri and Vikram Seth. Published in celebration of India's 50 years of independence. (IDA293, $19.99)

India West Map

by Nelles

• 2010
• MAP

A detailed regional map including Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and Rajasthan. Scaled at 1:1,500,000, with insets of Delhi and Mumbai. (IDA73, $13.95)

 

Also Recommended

Nepal Map

by Nelles

• 2008
• MAP

A double-sided map at a scale of 1:500,000, with insets of Kathmandu City and Kathmandu Valley. (NPL01, $13.95)

Lonely Planet India Phrasebook

by Omkar Koul

• LANGUAGE & PHRASEBOOKS
• 2008
• PAPER
• 398 PAGES

A handy palm-sized guide. (IDA538, $10.99)

Love Delhi

by Fiona Caulfield

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2010
• BOXED
• 166 PAGES

Packaged in very fashionable locally woven cloth, this beautifully made, discerning guide captures the soul of the city, pointing with authority to neighborhoods, shops, markets, restaurants and attractions. A labor of love by the Bangalore-based Fiona Caulfield and friends. Third edition. (IDA403, $50.00)

Love Jaipur, Rajasthan

by Fiona Caulfield

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2010
• BOXED
• 168 PAGES

The exuberant Caulfield includes her favorite palaces and places, experiences, get-aways, markets, shops and must-sees in this rather remarkable, carefully curated hand-crafted guide. With sections on Jodhpur, Udaipur, Jaisalmer, Agra and Rajasthan. 2nd Edition. (IDA590, $50.00)

Spectrum Guide to Nepal

by Camerapix

• GUIDEBOOK
• 2000
• PAPER
• 364 PAGES

A comprehensive guide to the country, its people, history, culture and geography, featuring excellent maps and 200 color photographs. (NPL27, $22.95)

A Traveller's History of India

by Sinharaja Tammita-Delgoda

• HISTORY
• 2007
• PAPER
• 288 PAGES

A condensed introduction to the themes and events that have shaped India from prehistory to Rajiv Gandhi's rule. (IDA57, $14.95)

City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi

by William Dalrymple

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 2003
• PAPER
• 350 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Dalrymple infectiously interweaves his own experiences over a year in Delhi with the art, architecture, history and literature of the city. (IDA06, $16.00)

In Spite of the Gods, The Strange Rise of Modern India

by Edward Luce

• HISTORY
• 2008
• PAPER
• 346 PAGES

As the world's largest democracy and a rising international economic power, India has long been heralded for its great strides in technology and trade. Yet it is also plagued by poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, and a vast array of other social and economic issues. Luce tackles the challenges and reality of the world's largest democracy with insight and balance in this portrait of a nation in transition. (IDA349, $16.00)

India, A Wounded Civilization

by V.S. Naipaul

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 2003
• PAPER
• 208 PAGES

A vivid and unsentimental cultural portrait that draws together conversations with Indians, news reports, politics and literature, paying particular attention to the Hindu confrontation with the West. (IDA224, $12.95)

May You Be the Mother of a Hundred Sons, A Journey Among the Women of India

by Elisabeth Bumiller

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 1991
• PAPER
• 220 PAGES

A wonderfully written and fascinating portrayal of Indian women from Bollywood stars to Indira Gandhi to prostitutes. It's an insightful portrait of the country as seen through the eyes of its women. (IDA37, $14.95)

Mughal India, Splendours of the Peacock Throne

by Valerie Berinstain | Paul Bahn

• HISTORY
• 1998
• PAPER
• 159 PAGES

This illustrated pocket guide presents the history, culture and splendor of the Mughal court and its celebrated architecture in hundreds of archival photographs and drawings. (IDA50, $15.95)

The Idea of India

by Sunil Khilnani

• CULTURAL PORTRAIT
• 1999
• PAPER
• 263 PAGES

Khilnani confronts the complexities, paradoxes and challenges of the nation in this brief, elegant survey of India since independence. (IDA160, $17.00)

Darsan, Seeing the Divine Image in India

by Diana L. Eck

• ART & ARCHITECTURE
• 1998
• PAPER
• 115 PAGES

Tremendously useful for the traveler, this rigorous guide explains the significance and meaning of Hindu temples, festivals and ritual. Darsan, which translates as "seeing", reveals religious expression in India. (IDA75, $25.00)

Hindu Art and Architecture

by George Michell

• ART & ARCHITECTURE
• 2000
• PAPER
• 224 PAGES

An excellent survey of Hindu art and architecture, explaining the meaning and construction of principal images and buildings, as well as the development of Hinduism and the corpus of myths that have influenced its artistic tradition. (IDA147, $18.95)

Indian Art, A Concise History

by Roy C. Craven

• ART & ARCHITECTURE
• 1997
• PAPER
• 256 PAGES

This convenient volume in the acclaimed "World of Art" series is a crisp, illustrated overview of the range of Indian art over the centuries. (IDA16, $21.95)

Taj Mahal

by M.C. Joshi | Jean-Louis Nou | Amina Okada

• ART & ARCHITECTURE
• 1993
• HARD COVER
• 231 PAGES

This lavish portrait features 158 full-color photographs (including four magnificent foldout panels) by the extraordinary Jean-Louis Nou. With grand exterior views, filigreed inscriptions and bejeweled floral mosaics. (IDA108, $75.00)

Taj Mahal, Passion and Genius at the Heart of the Moghul Empire

by Diana Preston | Michael Preston

• ART & ARCHITECTURE
• 2007
• PAPER
• 317 PAGES

A vivid narrative history of the creation of the Taj Mahal, a memorial created by Moghul emperor Shah Jahan for his beloved wife. (IDA340, $16.95)

A Princess Remembers, The Memoirs of the Maharani of Jaipur

by Devi Gayatri

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 1996
• PAPER
• 408 PAGES
• HARD TO FIND ELSEWHERE

The memoirs of an extraordinary life. Widow of the Maharaja of Jaipur, member of parliament and a fascinating character, Gayatri recalls growing up in the palace compound, marrying the Maharaja, her political triumphs and work on behalf of education in India. (IDA149, $39.95)

An Autobiography, Or the Story of My Experiments with Truth

by Mohandas K. Gandhi

• BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
• 1995
• PAPER
• 480 PAGES

There is no substitute for reading Gandhi in his own simple, direct prose. A highly recommended glimpse into the personality and life of this remarkable figure. (IDA163, $10.95)

Nine Lives, In Search of the Sacred in Modern India

by William Dalrymple

• TRAVEL NARRATIVE
• 2011
• PAPER
• 256 PAGES

From Sufi dervish and Buddhist monk to outcast and temple worshiper: nine people, nine lives, all captured by Dalrymple (City of Djinns) as he journeys throughout India in search of remarkable individuals transformed by religion. At turns bemusing, dazzling and heart-wrenching, this is his first travel book in 15 years. (IDA587, $16.00)

The Snow Leopard

by Peter Matthiessen

• EXPLORATION
• 2008
• PAPER
• 368 PAGES
• FAVORITE

The most perceptive, acutely observed and personal of all his books, Matthiessen's account of a five-week journey through Nepal with naturalist George Schaller combines their quest for the elusive cat with a moving introduction to Buddhism and the people and culture of the Himalayas. (NPL03, $16.00)

A Passage to India

by E.M. Forster

• LITERATURE
• 1976
• PAPER
• 362 PAGES

Forster's enduring masterpiece of the clash between Indian and British culture gives gripping insights into British imperial attitudes and Indian colonial responses. (IDA26, $14.00)

Beneath a Marble Sky, A Love Story

by John Shors

• LITERATURE
• 2006
• PAPER
• 344 PAGES

Built to mourn the tragic death of the emperor's wife, the Taj Mahal is at the center of this murderous, fantastical and dazzling tale, told from the point of view of daughter Princess Jaharana. (IDA301, $15.00)

India, A Traveler's Literary Companion

by Chandrahas Choudhury

• ANTHOLOGY
• 2010
• PAPER
• 256 PAGES

Each of these 14 stories evokes place and landscape, providing an excellent introduction both to contemporary writers and to India's diverse cultures and history. (IDA598, $14.95)

Midnight's Children

by Salman Rushdie

• LITERATURE
• 2006
• PAPER
• 533 PAGES
• FAVORITE

Crowned Best of the Booker in 2008, Rushdie's greatest novel is a madcap, comic take on the birth of modern India in all its splendid and unexpected manifestations. (IDA12, $16.00)

The Root and the Flower

by L.H. Myers | Penelope Fitzgerald

• LITERATURE
• 2001
• PAPER
• 639 PAGES

A trilogy of historical novels about India in the time of the Mughals -- first published separately in the 1930s and now back in print as a single volume. (IDA191, $16.95)

The White Tiger, A Novel

by Aravind Adiga

• LITERATURE
• 2008
• PAPER
• 288 PAGES

Mordant, funny, angry, horrifying, this Booker Prize-winning tale of a village pauper turned success (and murderer) skewers the ambition, inequity and corruption of 21st-century India. (IDA542, $15.00)

Travelers' Tales India

by James O'Reilly | Larry Habegger

• ANTHOLOGY
• 2004
• PAPER
• 496 PAGES

A collection of 45 descriptive and thought-provoking short excerpts on Indian life and culture, including contributions from Rushdie, Naipaul and Dalrymple, plus some valuable excerpts from books long out of print. (IDA05, $19.95)

India Safari Companion

by Alain Pons

• NATURAL HISTORY
• 2007
• PAPER
• 80 PAGES

A colorful, illustrated slim guide to wildlife, photography and travel in India. (IDA371, $14.95)

India: Kingdom of the Tiger

by Bruce Neibaur

• NATURAL HISTORY
• 2002
• DVD

This dazzling film of tigers in the wild and pioneering conservation efforts was filmed on location at Bhandhavgarh Tiger Reserve. (IDA248, $19.99)

India: Land of the Tiger

by National Geographic Society

• NATURAL HISTORY
• 1993
• DVD

Come as close as you dare to these wild cats in all their royal splendor as you and National Geographic journey deep into one of the World's Last Wild Places. (IDA620, $19.95)

Wild India, The Wildlife of India and Nepal

by Guy Mountefort | Gerald Cubitt

• NATURAL HISTORY
• 2008
• PAPER
• 208 PAGES

An informative introduction to the natural history of the region in a handsome oversize volume. With hundreds of extraordinary photographs of the wildlife and landscapes of the Himalayas, the Indo-Ganges Plain and the Deccan. (IDA02, $29.95)

Birds of Northern India

by Richard Grimmett | Carol Inskipp

• FIELD GUIDE
• 2003
• PAPER
• 304 PAGES

A regional field guide to 180 species of birds, with 120 stunning color plates and condensed descriptive information, integrated on facing pages for easy reference in the field. (IDA222, $35.00)

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