She does not shirk problematic topics, such as the evils of the caste system or the burning of widows. In fact, she devotes a fair amount of space to the particular difficulties faced by Hindu women.

Knott being a British academic, and a Quaker, this is an outsider's view, a learned, sympathetic and interested outsider's view. It is none the worse for that. Including a map, a timeline, a glossary, excellent illustrations and suggestions for further reading, it is packed with a surprising amount of information in such a small space.

If you have only a passing interest in Hinduism, this book may tell you all you want to know. If you wish to pursue the study, this is the perfect introduction. A good next step would be an annotated edition of the Bhagavad Gita.


Pretty disappointing   February 11, 2005
 12 out of 15 found this review helpful

I bought this book to learn about Hinduism, the religion itself is covered quite well but as, for example, special holidays, particular God,Goddesses worshipped were not talked about in any great length,even named,let alone described.These Gods are as important to Hindus as our God is to us, can you imagine writing a book about Christianity and not mentioning God or Jesus for that matter, there would be no book. I realise that it is only meant as a short introduction, and as that, I feel that a short piece on all aspects of Hinduism would have been far better. I feel that I have been quite generous in giving a 3 star and have recently bought a book for 2 which has much more coverage than this, I only wish that I had borrowed it from a library first but alas I buy instead. At least at Amazon, if more people give feed back, we can buy the books that will really cover the imformation that we need to gain. Keep up the good work Amazon!!


Fairly good introduction, with a slight bias   December 8, 2004
 6 out of 7 found this review helpful

The book gives a fairly good introduction to religious and social aspects of Hinduism. However, there are two points worth noting:

- The order of discourse seems unnecessarily complex. For instance, the concept of divinity and its many embodiments in the form of Gods and Goddesses, which I would consider a fundamental element, is not explained until late in the book.

- There is a gender bias. Almost throughout the book, a lot of emphasis is given to female figures, views and issues. Understandable given the writer's background, but I think a very short introduction should be more impartial.