INDIA

 
India: a History
John Keay

Riveting, rattling account of India through the ages
 
A fine balance
 
Rohinton Mistry

Superb storytelling through triumph and tragedy. Perhaps The Great Indian Novel
 
Midnight's children
 
Salman Rushdie
Intelligent, magic-realist tale weaves through post-independence Indian history
 
Train to Pakistan
 
Khushwant Singh

Classic, moving novel set during the subcontinent's bloody partition into India and Pakistan