An acclaimed memoir, first published in 1951, which launched Chaudhuri's literary star (he was dubbed "Honorary Commander of the British Empire" in 1992). It's at once the story of Chaudhuri's youth in rural Bengal and Calcutta and the story of modern India's origins -- a book with a powerful intellectual kick which is steeped in time and place. A "masterpiece", says Salman Rushdie. Chaudhuri died in 1999 at the age of 102. This handsome paper edition is one in a great series by the New York Review of Books.  (IDA196, $19.95)