Talking History

In a series of candid conversations, Romila Thapar, a widely read, discussed, and cited historian of our times, muses on a range of issues that impact history writing in modern India. Apart from exploring Thapars far-reaching influence as an authority on the history of early India, Talking History examines themes such as the function of a historian, the centrality of historical research and evidence, oriental despotism, the ongoing conflict with religious fundamentalists, and the polymorphous structure of Hinduism. Anecdotal and vibrant, each of these accounts reveals a rare understanding of history as a dialogue between the past and the present. The latest book in the series of Ramin Jahanbegloos interviews with prominent intellectuals who have influenced modern Indian thought, Talking History traces Romila Thapars journey as a historian and a public intellectual, and gives an insight into the ideas that have shaped her work.