Books with author John Keay

Fully revised with forty thousand new words that take the reader up to present-day India, John Keay’s India: A History spans five millennia in a sweeping narrative that tells the story of the peoples of the subcontinent, from their ancient beginnings in the valley of the Indus to the events in the region today. In charting the evolution of the rich tapestry of cultures, religions, and peoples that comprise the modern nations of Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, Keay weaves together insights from a variety of scholarly fields to create a rich historical narrative. Wide-ranging and authoritative, India: A History is a compelling epic portrait of one of the world’s oldest and most richly diverse civilizations.

An authoritative account of five thousand years of Chinese historyMany nations define themselves in terms of territory or people; China defines itself in terms of history. Taking into account the country's unrivaled, voluminous tradition of history writing, John Keay has composed a vital and illuminating overview of the nation's complex and vivid past. Keay's authoritative history examines 5,000 years in China, from the time of the Three Dynasties through Chairman Mao and the current economic transformation of the country. Crisp, judicious, and engaging, China is the classic single-volume history for anyone seeking to understand the present and future of this immensely powerful nation.

The first single-volume history of India since the 1950s, combining narrative pace and skill with social, economic and cultural analysis. Five millennia of the sub-continent’s history are interpreted by one of our finest writers on India and the Far East. This edition does not include illustrations.Older, richer and more distinctive than almost any other, India’s culture furnishes all that the historian could wish for in the way of continuity and diversity. The peoples of the Indian subcontinent, while sharing a common history and culture, are not now, and never have been, a single unitary state; the book accommodates Pakistan and Bangladesh, as well as other embryonic nation states like the Sikh Punjab, Muslim Kashmir and Assam.Above all, the colonial era is seen in the overall context of Indian history, and the legacy of the 1947 partition is examined from the standpoint of today.

An authoritative account of five thousand years of Chinese historyMany nations define themselves in terms of territory or people; China defines itself in terms of history. Taking into account the country's unrivaled, voluminous tradition of history writing, John Keay has composed a vital and illuminating overview of the nation's complex and vivid past. Keay's authoritative history examines 5,000 years in China, from the time of the Three Dynasties through Chairman Mao and the current economic transformation of the country. Crisp, judicious, and engaging, China is the classic single-volume history for anyone seeking to understand the present and future of this immensely powerful nation.

A history of the English East India company.During 200 years the East India Company grew from a loose association of Elizabethan tradesmen into "the grandest society of merchants in the universe". As a commercial enterprise it came to control half the world's trade and as a political entity it administered an embryonic empire. Without it there would have been no British India and no British Empire. In a tapestry ranging from Southern Africa to north-west America, and from the reign of Elizabeth I to that of Victoria, bizarre locations and roguish personality abound. From Bombay to Singapore and Hong Kong the political geography of today is, in some respects, the result of the Company. This book looks at the history of the East India Company.

During 200 years the East India Company grew from a loose association of Elizabethan tradesmen into "the grandest society of merchants in the universe". As a commercial enterprise it came to control half the world's trade and as a political entity it administered an embryonic empire. Without it there would have been no British India and no British Empire. In a tapestry ranging from Southern Africa to north-west America, and from the reign of Elizabeth I to that of Victoria, bizarre locations and roguish personality abound. From Bombay to Singapore and Hong Kong the political geography of today is, in some respects, the result of the Company. This book looks at the history of the East India Company.

Many nations define themselves in terms of territory or people; China defines itself in terms of history. With the world's longest tradition of history-writing, its extraordinary past ought to be common knowledge. China, by the eminent historian John Keay, should make it so.Informed by the latest research and enlivened by wit and anecdote, Keay's narrative spans 5,000 years, from the Three Dynasties (2000–220 BC) to Deng Xiaoping's opening of China and the past three decades of economic growth. Broadly chronological, the book presents a history of all the Chinas—including regions (Yunnan, Tibet, Xinjiang, Mongolia, Manchuria) that account for two-thirds of the People's Republic of China land mass but which barely feature in its conventional history.Crisp, judicious, and engaging, China is destined to become the classic single-volume history for anyone seeking to understand the past, present, and future of this immensely powerful nation.

The incredible story of the world's deepest scuba diversFully revealed. The crazy, dangerous and golden era of extreme deep scuba diving. A fascinating behind-the-scenes story of man’s quest for the abyss.Venture far inside the high-charged fraternity of the deep diving misfits, gurus and geniuses who stretch the limits of the possible. From the dangerous deep diving lunacy of the 1990s to aquatic mastery on the world stage, A Walk on the Deep Side tells the story of driven souls, sudden death and spectacular victory. It follows the tale of two British deep divers, Leigh Cunningham and Mark Andrews in their remarkable and near-endless uphill battle to bag one of scuba diving's greatest prizes.This is a stirring and uplifting book about one of the most fascinating and dangerous of all extreme sports. Buy it now and take the journey of a lifetimeWhat the readers say… Absolutely brilliant. ... One amazing book! ... Loved every page, lived every dive.... A thought-provoking and enlightening read. … Terrific. ... A Must Read. ... Great Read. ... Thoroughly enjoyed it. ... I couldn't put it down.... Read it and you won't be disappointed. ... Awesome! ... One of the most honest and enjoyable books I've read. ... Well written and a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Alarms amongst the Uzbeks - Alexander BurnesOf all the "forbidden" cities (Timbuktu, Mecca, Lhasa, Riyadh and so on) none enjoyed a more fearsome reputation that Bukhara in Uzbekistan. The first British Indian expedition, that of William Moorcroft in 1819-26, had never returned. Moorcroft's disappearance, like that of Livingstone or Franklin, posed a challenge in itself and preyed on the minds of his immediate successors. Heavily disguised and in an atmosphere of intense intrigue, Burnes and Dr James Gerard crossed the Afghan Hindu Kush in 1832 and approached the scenes of Moorcroft's discomfiture. They would both return; and "Bukhara Burnes" would become the most renowned explorer of his day.On the Roof of the World - John WoodIn 1937 Alexander Burnes returned to Afghanistan on an official mission. Amongst his subordinates was a ship's lieutenant who, having surveyed the navigational potential of the river Indus, took off on a mid-winter excursion into the unknown Pamirs between China and Turkestan. Improbably, therefore, it was John Wood, a naval officer and the most unassuming of explorers, who became the first to climb into the hospitable mountain heartland of Central Asia and the first to follow to its source the great river Oxus (or Amu Darya.)Exploring Angkhor - Henri MouhotBorn in France, Mouhot spent most of his career in Russia as a teacher and then in the Channel Islands. A philologist by training, he also took up natual history and it was with the support of the Royal Zoological Society that in 1858 he set out for South East Asia. From Siam (Thailand) he penetrated Cambodia and Laos, where he died; but not before reaching unknown Angkhor and becoming the first to record and depict the most extensive and magnificent temple complex in the world. His discovery provided the inspiration for a succession of subsequent French expeditions up the Mekong.Over the Karakorams - Francis Edward YounghusbandAs leader of the 1904-5 British military expedition to Lhasa and as promoter of the early assaults on Mount Everest, Younghusband came to epitomize Himalayan endeavour. To the mountain he also owed his spiritual conversion from gung-ho solider to founder of the World Congress of Faiths. His initiation came in 1887 when, as the climax to journey from Peking across the Gobi desert, he determines to reach India over the unexplored Mustagh Pass in the Karakorams - "the most difficult and dangerous achievement in these mountains so far" (S.Hedin).Trials in Tibet - Ekai KawaguchiBy the 1890's the capital of "forbidden" Tibet, unseen by a foreigner since Huc's visit, represented the greatest challenge to exploration. Outright adventurers like the dreadful Henry Savage Landor competed with dedicated explorers like Sven Hedin, all succumbed to to a combination of official vigilance and physical hardship. The exception, and the winner in "the race for Lhasa", was a Buddhist monk from Japan whose expedition consisted of himself and two sheep. Ekai Kawaguchi was supposedly a pilgrim seeking religious texts. His faith was genuine and often tested, as during this 1900 excursion into western Tibet; but he is also thought to have been an agent of the British government in India.

One of the greatest English poets, John Keats (1795–1821) created an astonishing body of work before his early death from tuberculosis at the age of 26. Much of his poetry consists of deeply felt lyrical meditations on a variety of themes — love, death, the transience of joy, the impermanence of youth and beauty, the immortality of art, and other topics — expressed in verse of exquisite delicacy, originality, and sensuous richness. This collection contains 30 of his finest poems, including such favorites as "On first looking into Chapman's Homer," "The Eve of St. Agnes," "On seeing the Elgin Marbles," "La Belle Dame sans Merci," "Isabella; or, the pot of Basil" and the celebrated Odes: "To a Nightingale," "On a Grecian Urn," "On Melancholy," "On Indolence," "To Psyche," and "To Autumn." These and many other poems, reproduced here from a standard edition, represent a treasury of time-honored poetry that ranks among the glories of English verse.