William Dalrymple

Dalrymple profiles nine Indians who participate in the several religions — Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, etc. — of India in different ways. It’s an interesting peek into the colorful but opaque-to-oustsiders worlds of Indian faith and practices.

I read this before my recent trip to India, and I may reread parts now that I’ve experienced the country.

Martyn C. Rady

The Habsburgs are an endlessly fascinating topic (I can hear readers’ eyes rolling), a topic that’s probably too large for the “very short introduction” format. It’s not a bad book, but, like “The Habsburgs” didn’t quite scratch my Habsburg itch.

Luke Timothy Johnson

This is a good, concise introduction, but I was hopping for more of a history of the New Testament than an overview of its contents.

Piers Moore Ede

Varanasi (formerly Benares) is a city on the Ganges in northern India. It’s an ancient city, continuously inhabited for thousands of years, and is considered a holy city by Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists. The previous sentence is a pretty dry description; this book — which I read before visiting Varanasi — reveals a lot about the life of the city. But nothing can compare to being there: it’s chaotic, colorful, dirty, loud, and beautiful. From a boat on the Ganges you see people doing laundry, people engaged in ritual bathing, and cremation fires, all over a fairly short distance. I’d recommend “Kaleidoscope City” to anyone with the least interest in India or its religions. Now that I’ve been to the city, I may read the book again.

Eric H. Cline

The title is a good description of this book. It’s more a long encyclopedia article than a book, but despite its brevity it provides a good overview of what’s known about the Trojan War from literature, history, and archaeology.