Read this along with a trip to India. Or tried to, it took three goes to finish. I liked the book and am hugely impressed with Dalrymple's scholarship, but the writing is a bit uneven. Parts are an amusing travelogue, parts are a slightly tedious recitation of history, and the whole doesn't quite hold together for me. Also was a bit bugged by the way he was channelling Mark Twain's "Tramp Abroad" in some of his amusing anecdotes about the natives. Overall it should be a fantastic book, Dalrymple's knowledge and intelligence makes for a unique and compelling perspective. But somehow it just didn't quite get there for me.