Knihobot

William Dalrymple

    20. březen 1965

    William Dalrymple je uznávaný autor, který se proslavil svým pronikavým pohledem na historii a kulturu Indie. Jeho díla se vyznačují hlubokým bádáním, poutavým vyprávěním a schopností oživit minulost pro moderního čtenáře. Dalrymple mistrně propojuje historické události s lidskými osudy, zkoumá témata střetu civilizací, náboženské identity a proměny společností. Jeho styl je obohacen o barvité popisy a živé portréty, které čtenáře vtáhnou do světa, jejž vykresluje.

    William Dalrymple
    Return of a King
    The Last Mughul
    India
    Xanadu : cesta za Kublajchánem
    Věk bohyně Kálí : cesty po Indii a setkání s lidmi
    Město džinů : rok v Dillí
    • Anarchie

      Der verhängnisvolle Aufstieg der East India Company. 1600-1874

      • 720 stránek
      • 26 hodin čtení
      Anarchie2025
    • The Golden Road

      How Ancient India Transformed the World

      • 482 stránek
      • 17 hodin čtení

      India's rich cultural heritage played a pivotal role in shaping civilizations long before modern influences took hold. A millennium ago, its contributions in religion, art, technology, astronomy, mathematics, medicine, language, and literature spread widely, reaching regions from Afghanistan to Japan. This book explores the profound impact of India's cultural exports, revealing a history of influence that challenges the narrative of a solely passive cultural recipient.

      The Golden Road2024
      4,3
    • The Company Quartet

      The Anarchy, White Mughals, Return of a King and The Last Mughal

      • 2200 stránek
      • 77 hodin čtení

      The narrative explores the complex and often overlooked dynamics of the East India Company's rise and its impact on the Mughal Empire, which was once a significant global economic power. Through meticulous research and engaging storytelling, Dalrymple reveals the darker aspects of colonialism, highlighting the transition from a thriving empire to corporate dominance. This four-book collection provides a comprehensive view of over two centuries of colonial history, marked by political intrigue and resistance, making it an essential read for history enthusiasts.

      The Company Quartet2021
      4,3
    • Perfect Presence

      • 135 stránek
      • 5 hodin čtení

      Tantra, a term known in the West for its associations with sex, magic and esoteric mysticism, has had an impact on many religions and philosophies, including Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Jainism, Vajrayana, Bo?npo, Ayurveda and Shamanism.00Alongside related ideas of ?mantra? (knowledge through sound) and ?yantra? (the means to leading a Tantric existence), the philosophy of Tantra claims that reality (prakriti) is pure consciousness, pure being, pure bliss ? a reality that is, however, veiled by illusion (maya). Through purification, elevation and reaffirmation of identity, Tantra aims to help us return to this unadulterated state of being.00In this beautiful book, art collector Joost van den Berg explains his fascination with Tantra imagery began with a chance discovery of the catalogue for the Tantra exhibition (1971) at the Hayward Gallery in London. It also features specially commissioned writings by scholars including modern art critic and curator Mel Gooding.00Perfect Presence is Berg?s third publication on this subject. It contains many examples of Tantric art from the 18th and 19th centuries alongside the work of contemporary artists such as Shezad Dawood and Ruth Marten who are inspired by this mystic art.00Exhibition: Redfern Gallery, London, UK (31.10.-08.11.2019).

      Perfect Presence2020
    • The Anarchy

      • 320 stránek
      • 12 hodin čtení

      In 1765 the East India Company defeated and captured the young Mughal emperor and forced him to set up a new government run by English traders. The creation of this new government marked the moment that the East India Company ceased to be a conventional international trading corporation, dealing in silks and spices, and became something much more unusual: an aggressive colonial power in the guise of a multinational business

      The Anarchy2019
      4,2
    • The first comprehensive and authoritative history of the Koh-i Noor, arguably the most celebrated and mythologised jewel in the world. On 29 March 1849, the ten-year-old Maharajah of the Punjab was ushered into the magnificent Mirrored Hall at the centre of the great Fort in Lahore. There, in a public ceremony, the frightened but dignified child handed over to the British East India Company in a formal Act of Submission to Queen Victoria not only swathes of the richest land in India, but also arguably the single most valuable object in the subcontinent- the celebrated Koh-i Noor diamond. The Mountain of Light. The history of the Koh-i-Noor that was then commissioned by the British may have been one woven together from gossip of Delhi Bazaars, but it was to be become the accepted version. Only now is it finally challenged, freeing the diamond from the fog of mythology which has clung to it for so long. The resulting history is one of greed, murder, torture, colonialism and appropriation through an impressive slice of south and central Asian history. It ends with the jewel in its current controversial setting- in the crown of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Masterly, powerful and erudite, this is history at its most compelling and invigorating.

      Koh-I-Noor2016
      4,1
    • India

      • 208 stránek
      • 8 hodin čtení

      India explores the lives of everyday people in extraordinary settings through the lens of Steve McCurry, one of the most admired photographers working today. As featured on cnn.com. This new portfolio of emotive and beautiful photographs from India features 150 previously unpublished images taken across the Indian subcontinent, along with iconic photographs that are famous worldwide. Reproduced in a large format with captions, and an introductory essay, this book features a range of color pictures illustrating this most colorful of countries, capturing the lives of everyday people in extraordinary settings: from the Ganesh festival on Chowpatty beach in Mumbai to the Kolkata railway station before dawn to the flower markets of Kashmir and the streets of Old Delhi. Following Phaidon's 2013 bestseller Untold: The Stories Behind the Photographs, McCurry's India is a new selection of the photographer's beautiful and powerful images of India, a country he has photographed many times over the last thirty years. Other Phaidon titles by Steve McCurry, include Steve McCurry, The Iconic Photographs, Steve McCurry, Unguarded Moment and Steve McCurry: South Southeast.

      India2015
      4,5
    • Return of a King

      • 567 stránek
      • 20 hodin čtení

      In the spring of 1839, the British invaded Afghanistan for the first time. Led by lancers in scarlet cloaks and plumed shakos, nearly 20,000 British and East India Company troops poured through the high mountain passes and re-established on the throne Shah Shuja ul-Mulk. On the way in, the British faced little resistance. But after two years of occupation, the Afghan people rose in answer to the call for jihad and the country exploded into violent rebellion. The First Anglo-Afghan War ended in Britain's greatest military humiliation of the nineteenth century: an entire army of the then most powerful nation in the world ambushed in retreat and utterly routed by poorly equipped tribesmen. Return of a King is the definitive analysis of the First Afghan War, told through the lives of unforgettable characters on all sides and using for the first time contemporary Afghan accounts of the conflict. Prize-winning and bestselling historian William Dalrymple's masterful retelling of Britain's greatest imperial disaster is a powerful and important parable of colonial ambition and cultural collision, folly and hubris, for our times.

      Return of a King2013
      4,4
    • In other rooms, other wonders

      • 224 stránek
      • 8 hodin čtení

      In the spirit of James Joyce's "Dubliners," Mueenuddin's collection of linked stories illuminates a place and a people through an examination of the entwined lives of landowners and their retainers on the Gurmani family farm in Lahore, Pakistan.

      In other rooms, other wonders2009
      3,7
    • The Last Mughul

      • 608 stránek
      • 22 hodin čtení

      The last of the Great Mughals was Bahadur Shah Zafar II. This book charts the desecration and demise of this man, his dynasty, his city and civilisations mercilessly ravished by fractured forces and vengeful British troops. It provides an understanding of a pivotal moment in Indian and Imperial history.

      The Last Mughul2006
      4,4
    • As the author of the best travel book of recent years at the intensely irritating age of twenty-two, William Dalrymple has now shown that In Xanadu was no fluke. City of Djinns is an entertaining mix of history and diary informed by a deep curiosity about the ways in which the ghosts of even the most distant past still walk in the twentieth century. On one level there are the amusing rites of passage, the struggles with bureaucracy, the eccentricity of author's landlord, all entertainingly related. He has a way of letting you smell and feel the city. There are beautifully chiselled descriptions of a grand capital, but much of the book's strength lies in his skill in peeling the historical onion and showing how (the) New Delhi resonates with the old. A splendid tapestry.

      City Of Djinns. A Year In Delhi2004
      4,2
    • Město džinů : rok v Dillí

      • 351 stránek
      • 13 hodin čtení

      Město džinů se odehrává se během jednoho roku, který autor strávil v Dillí. Bizarní exotické město se před námi postupně odhaluje, takže jsme brzy vtaženi do jeho křivolakých uliček, na hlučné bazary, do mešit, svatyní a hrobek. Vůbec si neuvědomujeme, že zatímco nás vypravěč baví neuvěřitelnými historkami o kohoutích zápasech, praštěných taxikářích a svatých mužích, bezděky do sebe nasáváme také množství vědomostí. Kromě toho, že se nenásilně seznámíme s celou pohnutou historií Indie, od násilného rozdělení, přes britskou nadvládu a sikhská povstání až do současnosti, potkáme spolu s autorem také nepřeberné množství figurek i osobností, tak živých, že jen těžko uvěříme, že jsme je neviděli na vlastní oči. Chovatelé holubů, súfističtí mystikové, muslimští léčitelé, hudebníci, tančící derviši, kaligrafové, filozofové, potrhlý indický domácí… to jsou jen někteří z mnoha. Pokud jste si až dosud vážně mysleli, že poučování musí být nudné, tahle kniha vás definitivně vyvede z omylu.

      Město džinů : rok v Dillí2004
      4,0
    • Begums, Thugs and White Mughals

      The Journals of Fanny Parkes

      • 392 stránek
      • 14 hodin čtení

      Fanny Parkes, who lived in India between 1822 and 1846, was the ideal travel writer - courageous, indefatigably curious and determinedly independent. Her delightful journal traces her journey from prim memsahib, married to a minor civil servant of the Raj, to eccentric, sitar-playing Indophile, fluent in Urdu, critical of British rule and passionate in her appreciation of Indian culture. Fanny is fascinated by everything, from the trial of the thugs and the efficacy of opium on headaches to the adorning of a Hindu bride. To read her is to get as close as one can to a true picture of early colonial India - the sacred and the profane, the violent and the beautiful, the straight-laced sahibs and the more eccentric "White Mughals" who fell in love with India and did their best, like Fanny, to build bridges across cultures.

      Begums, Thugs and White Mughals2002
      3,7
    • White Mughals

      • 640 stránek
      • 23 hodin čtení

      This compelling history of Britain's rule over India relates the true story of James Kirkpatrick, who converted to Islam and spied on the East India Company in the midst of an affair with the great-niece of the region's prime minister. Photos.

      White Mughals2002
      4,0
    • In India

      • 391 stránek
      • 14 hodin čtení
      In India2000
      2,1
    • From the author of The Last Mughal and In Xanadu, comes a mesmerizing book that explores how traditional religions are observed in today’s India, revealing ways of life that we might otherwise never have known. A middle-class woman from Calcutta finds unexpected fulfillment living as a Tantric in an isolated, skull-filled cremation ground . . . A prison warder from Kerala is worshipped as an incarnate deity for two months of every year . . . A Jain nun tests her powers of detachment watching her closest friend ritually starve herself to death . . . The twenty-third in a centuries-old line of idol makers struggles to reconcile with his son’s wish to study computer engineering . . . An illiterate goatherd keeps alive in his memory an ancient 200,000-stanza sacred epic . . . A temple prostitute, who resisted her own initiation into sex work, pushes her daughters into the trade she nonetheless regards as a sacred calling. William Dalrymple tells these stories, among others, with expansive insight and a spellbinding evocation of remarkable circumstance, giving us a dazzling travelogue of both place and spirit

      Nine Lives1999
      4,1
    • Netradiční cestopis, zrcadlo nastavené všem myslitelným tvářím Indie... Už samo slovo "Indie" v nás vyvolává představu exotiky, tajemných obřadů, prastarých chrámů, mahárádžů a fakírů. Na to, aby jí člověk skutečně porozuměl, je ovšem třeba velice dlouhé doby. A tak i tato kniha je výsledkem deseti let, během nichž autor v Indii střídavě žil nebo po ní aspoň cestoval. Výsledkem je devatenáct brilantních esejí, v nichž nám zprostředkuje pohled přímo do srdce tohoto neuvěřitelného kontinentu. V mistrném koktejlu dávkuje věci zábavné, šokující, ale i hořké a černé jako popel z pohřební hranice.... celý text

      Věk bohyně Kálí : cesty po Indii a setkání s lidmi1999
      4,0
    • From the Holy Mountain

      • 496 stránek
      • 18 hodin čtení

      In the spring of 587 A.D., 2 men set out from the great desert monastery of St Theodosius, near Bethlehem. It was the start of an extraordinary journey across the entire Byzantine world, and William Dalrymple has followed in their footsteps

      From the Holy Mountain1997
      4,3
    • City of Djinns

      • 352 stránek
      • 13 hodin čtení

      'Could you show me a djinn?' I asked. 'Certainly, ' replied the Sufi. 'But you would run away.' From the author of the Samuel Johnson prize shortlisted 'The Return of a King', this is William Dalrymple's captivating memoir of a year spent in Delhi, a city watched over and protected by the mischievous invisible djinns. Lodging with the beady-eyed Mrs Puri and encountering an extraordinary array of characters - from elusive eunuchs to the last remnants of the Raj - William Dalrymple comes to know the bewildering city intimately. He pursues Delhi's interlacing layers of history along narrow alleys and broad boulevards, brilliantly conveying its intoxicating mix of mysticism and mayhem. 'City of Djinns' is an astonishing and sensitive portrait of a city, and confirms William Dalrymple as one of the most compelling explorers of India's past and present.

      City of Djinns1994
      4,0
    • Xanadu : cesta za Kublajchánem

      • 292 stránek
      • 11 hodin čtení

      Co si pomyslet o mladém muži, studentu posledního ročníku Cambridge, který se rozhodne vyrazit po stopách legendárního cestovatele Marka Pola? Vezme si do hlavy, že naplní v Jeruzalémě lahvičku olejem z lamp u Božího hrobu a poveze ji přes Turecko, Írán, Pákistán a celou Čínu až do Xanadu, kdysi velkolepého sídla Kublajchána. I když oba cestovatelé dělí několik století, úskalí a útrapy cest jsou si v mnohém podobné, přičemž ty dnešní se zdají být ještě horší. Marco Polo se jistě obával loupeživých hord, ale nemusel zoufale shánět razítka na byrokratická povolení nebo se plížit přes hranice. Autor, inspirován tímto dobrodružstvím, se během svého dvacet tisíc kilometrů dlouhého putování rozhodně nenudil. Nocoval v karavanserájích i v přepychových rezidencích, cestoval pěšky, stopem, na podlaze autobusu i v kupé první třídy. Čelil mnoha výzvám, včetně krádeže a zatčení komunistickou policií. Nakonec poklekl před pomyslným trůnem v ruinách Xanadu a duchu Kublajchána předal svou lahvičku s olejem. Autor v této mimořádně zajímavé knize mistrně mísí dějiny, nebezpečí, anglický humor, sugestivní líčení architektury a politiku, takže čtenář má pocit, jako by vše viděl na vlastní oči.

      Xanadu : cesta za Kublajchánem1990
      3,9