The result of 10 year's living and traveling throughout the Indian subcontinent, The Age of Kali emerges from Dalrymple's uneasy sense that the region is slipping into the most fearsome of all epochs in ancient Hindu cosmology: "the Kali Yug, the Age of Kali, the lowest possible throw, an epoch of strife, corruption, darkness, and disintegration." The brilliance of this book lies in its refusal to reflect any cultural pessimism. Dalrymple's love for the subcontinent, and his feel for its diverse cultural identity, comes across in every page, which makes its chronicles of political corruption, ethnic violence, and social disintegration all the more poignant. The scope of the book is particularly impressive, from the vivid opening chapters portraying the lawless caste violence of Bihar, to interviews with the drug barons on the North-West Frontier, and Dalrymple's extraordinary encounter with the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka. Some of the most fascinating sections of the book are Dalrymple's interviews with Imran Khan and Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, which read like nonfiction companion pieces to Salman Rushdie's bitterly satirical Shame. The Age of Kali is a dark, disturbing book that takes the pulse of a continent facing some tough questions. --Jerry Brotton, Amazon.co.uk

From the Publisher
''Dalrymple remains without peer' - Sara Wheeler, Daily Telegraph, Books of the Year

'William Dalrymple has superseded Mark Tully as the voice of India ... He may well be the greatest travel writer of his generation.' - Robert Twigger, Spectator

'Dalrymple is amazingly gifted ... Not content with analysis, he is mad enough to interview many of the armed and dangerous people who are hell bent on leading India into the Age of Kali, the era of destruction and darkness. The result is reportage of the highest order ... Brilliant and persuasively frightening.' - Harry Ritchie, Mail on Sunday

'The most admired young travel writer in Britain today is the industrious and preternaturally talented William Dalrymple, without whose presence all prize-lists seem grotesquely naked. With The Age of Kali he has pulled it off again ... Witty and eagle-eyed, Dalrymple is, above everything, a fine observer and reporter.' - Michael Thompson-Noel, Financial Times, Books of the Year

'Fascinating ... Dalrymple hasn't just swarmed around South Asia visiting architectural ruins and interviewing relics of the Raj. He has also gone to places that few, if any, tourists will ever see, sometimes at considerable personal risk. Here he reprises some brilliant reportage from these unorthodox journeys and includes a series of penetrating profiles .. The Age of Kali is far from uncritical, but as Dalrymple says, "it is a work of love". Again and again he summons perfectly modulated prose - comic, tragic, ironic by turns - to evoke his passion.' - Katherine Frank, Literary Review --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author
William Dalrymple was born in Scotland and brought up on the shores of the Firth of Forth. He wrote the highly acclaimed bestseller In Xanadu when he was twenty-two. The book won the 1990 Yorkshire Post Best First Work Award and a Scottish Arts Council Spring Book Award; it was also shortlisted for the John Llewelyn Rhys Memorial Prize. in 1989 Dalrymple moved to Delhi where he lived for six years researching his second book, City of Djinns, which won the 1994 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award and the Sunday Times Young British Writer of the Year Award. His third book, the acclaimed From the Holy Mountain, was awarded the Scottish Arts Council Autumn Book Award for 1997; it was also shortlisted for the 1998 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award, the John Llewelyn Rhys Memorial Prize and the Duff Cooper Prize. Dalrymple was recently elected the youngest Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the Royal Asiatic Society. He has written and presented a series about the architecture of the Raj for Channel 4 and is currently working on a major BBC series about the religions of India. William Dalrymple is married to the artist Olivia Fraser, and they have a baby son and daughter. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Keywords: The Age of Kali: Indian Travels and Encounters, Books, William Dalrymple, Travel, Travel - General, Essays & Travelogues, Asia - India, Asia - Southwest