What do dancing seals, ancient sewer systems, Sanskrit epics, stubborn sultans, warrior queens, philosophical duels, and nuclear policy have in common?

You guessed it—India.

This is not your high school history textbook. A History of India (More or Less) takes you on a ride from the Indus Valley to Independence (and beyond), pausing frequently for arguments, asides, and digressions. It’s a book where emperors rise, empires fall, gods debate philosophy, mathematicians count to zero, and Bhagat Singh and Kalidasa occasionally share a footnote.

Packed with stories, side-eyes, satire, and just enough scholarly heft to not be thrown out of a university library, this is the past retold for the present. We don’t promise objectivity, but we do promise perspective—with a wink.

History may not repeat itself, but in India, it sure rhymes, dances, builds temples, and occasionally breaks into a monsoon.