Mohenjo-daro

An absorbing book that brings to the reader in most direct fashion the complexities of living in some of the world's first cities. Dr. Robert Arnott manages to collate the manifold existential challenges inhabitants would have faced and brought them all together for the first time in one place. >

The best guess at what some Indus signs may have meant and sounded like, especially the sequence of fish signs, came in this very first book on the ancient script published by an employee of the Indian Educational Service in 1933. >

There is a lot to like about this well-written and engaging set of reflections on ancient Indus life and culture. It does not hesitate to examine its biases: "much of our acceptance of the past is a function of the present," writes the author, and "what I present are not arguments . . . these are not free of my prejudices. So approach this book in the spirit of curiosity, not combat." >

"I saw a herd of unicorns today. I write this in full possession of my sense." So begins the short story The Unicorn Expedition by the great Bengali filmmaker Satyajit Ray. featuring a Professor Shanku story. >

This is a deeply researched and satisfying book, one that takes on the insightful point made by Marshall: "Great cities with teeming populations like Mohenjo-daro and Harappa could never have come into being save in a country which was capable of producing food on a big scale." >