Novel Approach: Hyderabad insights

I always try to read something about the history of where I’m traveling. In many cases, it’ll be military history (a hobby of mine). 

Without a doubt, my best experience was a book I picked up on my first trip to India in May ’09. The destination was Hyderabad, and the book was “White Mughals: Love and Betrayal in Eighteenth-Century India” by William Dalrymple (2004, Perfection Learning — 580 pp.).

This book gave me tremendous background on the Raj in India and particularly on the city of Hyderabad and its rulers. 

Since then, I’ve read just about everything Dalrymple has written. Although not history, I can also recommend “City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi” (1994, HarperCollins — 320 pp.) about his year in that city.

DAVID EMERY

Reston, VA