An Eye at the Top of the World: The Terrifying Legacy of the Cold War's Most Daring C.I.A. Operation

Book Description

At some point during the inhumanly cold Himalayan winter straddling 1965 and 1966, a peculiar collection of box-shaped objects — one sprouting a six-foot, insect-like antenna — plummets nine thousand feet down the sheer flanks of a remote peak. Ripped from its moorings by an avalanche, the jumbled apparatus slides down a funnel-shaped hourglass of hard snow and shoots over a black cliff band, careening a vertical distance six times the height of the Empire State building. The boxes come to rest on the glacier at the mountain's base. One, an olive-drab casing the size of a personal computer, begins to sink. Then, trailing a robotic dogtail of torn wires, it slowly burns through the snow, melting into solid blue glacial ice, eventually disappearing beneath the surface, and never seen again.

No one actually witnessed this event. But as you read these words, nearly four pounds of plutonium — locked in the glacier's dark unknowable heart — are almost certainly moving ever closer to the source of the Ganges River.

Eye at the Top of the World, provides a harrowing present-day account of Takeda’s expedition to solve the mystery of Nanda Devi.

Customer Reviews:

Misleading title; really just a medicore climb journal.......2007-10-08

Quite disappointing. I was expecting a documentary about the CIA missions, instead it is a journal of a modern climb along the same route. Unfortunately, the story is poorly told: the characters could be compelling (they're real people!), but the writing just never develops them as the author just dumps detail on us leaving us with an impression of cardboard cutouts. The story could be compelling (high altitude climbing is tough and tricky), but again, the author choses the wrong details. Combine the poor telling with with poor fact checking by the editor (e.g., Padilla was not a dirty bomb maker, a fact known in 2005 whereas this book's copyright is 2006, etc) and numerous spell-checker induced spelling errors and low quality photo reproductions...

Apparently I wanted Spies in the Himalayas: Secret Missions and Perilous Climbs (Modern War Studies) by M.S. Kohli and Kenneth Conboy. Perhaps you do as well.

Gripping Read; Chilling Historical Event; Modern Day Adventure.......2006-12-21

This book is a rare breed--a story that blends the recounting of a gripping and alarmingly serious historical event with a fascinating 1st person story of personal discovery and adventure. For anyone from history buffs to armchair mountaineers to concerned citizens, this book has something to offer. If anything, I'm surprised that the book hasn't garnered more attention, especially considering that the environmental crisis that may result from the botched CIA mission in the 1960s could become a chillingly deadly and vicious situation for one of the world's most populous nations.

Read the book, you won't be disappointed!

An Eye At The Top Of The World wins 2007 HIMALAYAN LITERATURE AWARD........2006-10-23

An Eye At The Top Of The World has jointly received the first prize from the 2007 Kekoo Naoroji Memorial Himalayan Literature Award.

The Himalayan Club, based in New Delhi, awards the Kekoo Naoroji Award in association with Naoroji family and Godrej Industries for the best book on mountains of Himalaya published during a year.

JURY VERDICT:
"Well written with crisp authority on both scientific and mountaineering matters Peter Takeda`s AN EYE AT THE TOP OF THE WORLD is a survey of secret climbing expeditions to Uttarakhand in the 1960`s crafted with considerable skill. It combines in an expedition narrative the details of earlier clandestine climbs where American and Indian operatives placed and lost on Nanda Devi a nuclear powered spying device and replaced it with another (later recovered) on Nanda Kot. Radical in its concept, Takeda tracks down convincingly the planning and execution of this startling CIA operation, and has written a mountaineering thriller into the bargain. For years rumours have floated around the mountaineering fraternity and it is fascinating to have a good many of them confirmed though their sequence may have been mixed up. Despite being written for a lay American readership and from an American point of view, this a sensitive enquiry and the author`s feelings for the Nanda Devi region come across as both intimate and real. Bound to be controversial, the book`s sober tone guarantees its uncomfortable disclosures and their presumed fallout on the environment will find a lasting audience. The jury is unanimous in according joint first place to this compelling story."

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Beautiful book
Great book for kids that love India!
I is for India!
I am using this as a picture book.
I is for India

I Is for India (World Alphabets)
Prodeepta Das
Manufacturer: Frances Lincoln
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1845073207

Book Description

With a special focus on Indian children, this book captures the stunning variety of life in a country that is also a subcontinent. Using an A-Z format, Prodeepta Das introduces young readers to social details both ancient and modern, such as the happy chaos of bustling cities, where the cinema rules, as well as the quiet traditions of rural life. I Is for India contains beautiful images of everything from Mehndi, elaborate filigrees of tattoos worn by young women at weddings and festivals, to the country's splendid national bird, the peacock.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful book.......2007-09-24

This beautiful alphabet book captures not only the look but also the spirit of India. The images were taken in the state of Orissa, but to my eyes (here in the U.S.) they appear to be representative of the country as a whole.

Great book for kids that love India!.......2007-06-27

I read this to a 3 year old that is obsessed with his Indian heritage and he absolutley loved it! Great information along with the real pictures (verses drawings).

I is for India! .......2004-11-08

This is a great book and part of a great new series. It tries hard to make the information all inclusive so that much of India is included. A great start to learning about India.

I am using this as a picture book........2004-03-20

I showed this to my 1 and half year old daughter six months ago, and she still hasn't tired of it. The pictures are great and spark a lot of questions. I would recommend this to anyone who has a love of travel and other cultures.

I is for India.......1999-06-22

I is For India - Podeepta Das

Aspects of subject included Language. Culture. Religion. Festivals. Animals. Daily life.

Structure and organisation of the text The book is an A to Z of India. Each page has a letter, a description of something starting with that letter, and an accompanying photo.

Ways in which information is presented Text - The font is standard except for the letter on each page. Photos

Helpful features No need for an index, as it is in alphabetical order.

The photographs are well selected, they carry a lot of extra information. Cross curricular. Information is given space to breath.

Potential difficulties Indian words may be trick to pronounce and recognise. Only covers one area of a vast continent.

Reading skills required Average general level of reading. Alphabetical order. Fair amount of Indian words, which would be difficult to recognise for many children.

Implications for teaching Cross curricular - Geography, RE, English.

Book Description

The most thoroughly documented and authenticated case of reincarnation in modern times! This was NOT a case obtained through the use of hypnosis or any other means. Shanti Devi also reveals the extremely vivid memories of her experiences after Death, the period between her lives, and the return to a physical body! Even Mahatma Gandhi became involved and encouraged examination of the case.

Customer Reviews:

Best Book on Reincarnation.......2007-09-10

Since friends know I'm interested in yoga and meditation, they often ask if I believe in reincarnation. I advise them to read I Have Lived Before by award winning Swedish journalist Sture Lonnerstrand, and make up their own minds.
If you only read one book on reincarnation, this should be the one. Shanti Devi's story is the most thoroughly researched case of reincarnation in modern India. The details of this account will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about the nature of the soul.
Don't miss this book; it's a mind blower.

Hard to believe, but its 100% TRUE!!.......2007-06-14

Having grown up in Delhi, we had heard of the unbelievable story of Shanti Devi Mathur from my father and other relatives who grew up at that time in the same neighborhood in old Delhi. Later, as it happened, Shanti Devi taught Hindi to may father as part of a Government language program.

There has never been any doubt about the absolutely truth of the story in minds of anyone growing up in old Delhi at that time. The facts in the book are completely in line with what I have always heard from family. These facts may be hard to accept for many, but do yourself a favor and read the book.....it's 100% true!

Reliable information about a classic reincarnation case.......2006-02-06

According to many investigators Near-Death Experiences suggest at least the probability of life after death. In this respect, they are connected to other experiences that do so, such as memories of a previous life.
One of the most famous early cases in this field concerns the Indian girl Shanti Devi. In the 1930s she spontaneously claimed to have been Lugdi Devi, the wife of Kedar Nath Chaubey from Mathura. This woman had died while giving birth at the young age of 23.
The numerous details that Shanti mentioned about her previous incarnation were verified as meticulously as possible by Indian researchers. Many of them concluded that the statements and behaviours shown by Shanti Devi could not be explained by mainstream scientific theories.
One of the first westerners that thoroughly investigated the case was the Swedish author Sture Lönnerstrand. He travelled to India as a skeptic and became convinced by the facts he discovered there. His book Shanti Devi, en berättelse om reinkarnation is a moving, easily accessible biography, illustrated with photographs of Shanti and other persons involved. It is very positive that this English translation was finally issued in 1998.
At a later age, Shanti Devi told Lönnerstrand what she could recall of her death as Lugdi. She still remembered that she consciously observed how a physician, a nurse, her husband and her mother had jointly decided that her body should be immediately transferred to Mathura to be burnt there. Ultimately she entered a spiritual world of Light and from there she finally returned to earth.
This book by Sture Lönnerstrand fulfills the important function of spreading reliable information about a typical, classic case of memories of a past incarnation. Scholarly reincarnation research is not an artifical 'invention' of Ian Stevenson, but it studies a natural phenomenon of all ages and regions.

I Have Lived Before: The True Story of the Reincarnation of Shanti Devi.......2005-10-09

This is an excellent book. The details of Shanti Devi's life are told quite convincingly. The last part of the book could have actually have been left out as far as I was concerned, because it was just the author's opinions. The factual accounts of Shati Devi's life would have been enough. Her story is remarkable, and is probably still the best documentation about the validity of the concept of reincarnation.

I hope I read this in my next life, too.......2005-03-13

This book was eye opening for me. Before I read it I didn't quite know what I believed, but was open to the idea of reincarnation. Now I don't have any doubt in my mind that reincarnation exists.
The book is clearly written as it tells the story from when she was a little girl until the end of her life. it tells in detail, how she remembered her old town and even words and dialects they used there, that she couldn't have learned in her present lifetime. It was gripping when it talked about how her remembering negatively it affected her. Having love for her past-life husband who was at least 50 years older than her, and a son who was over a year older than her.
The story was the most intruiging when it described the period in between her death and new conception.
I highly reccomend this book. I could't put it down. If you have any interest in reincarnatinon and/or India, this is the book for you.

Like Hidden Fire: The Plot to Bring Down the British Empire

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The German attempt to bring down the British Empire.
Another Hopkirk Treasure
The fire that nearly engulfed the world
An Okay-to-Good Book
Why they call it World War

Like Hidden Fire: The Plot to Bring Down the British Empire
Peter Hopkirk
Manufacturer: Kodansha Globe
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1568361270

Book Description

A GRIPPING STORY OF IMPERIAL AMBITION, SWASHBUCKLING ADVENTURE, AND THE KAISER'S OWN JIHAD.

An acclaimed historian tells, for the first time, the full story of the conspiracy between the Germans and the Turks to unleash a Muslim holy war against the British in India and the Russians in the Caucasus. Drawing on recently opened intelligence files and rare personal accounts, Peter Hopkirk
skillfully reconstructs the Kaiser's bold plan and describes the exploits of the secret agents on both sides-disguised variously as archaeologists, traders, and circus performers-as they sought to foment or foil the uprising and determine the outcome of World War I.

Customer Reviews:

The German attempt to bring down the British Empire........2007-10-18

During World War I, Germany and the Kaiser attempted to bring down the British Empire in India and Burma. Since Germany was already allied with the Ottoman Empire, the Kaiser and his spies attempted to make a course attempt to rally Muslims worldwide to oppose both the Russians and British. The British were also appealing to the Arabs on a nationalistic basis. The book covers the attempt by the Germans in both Persia and Afghanistan. It also covers the Russian Civil War in Central Asia. The Germans would have done better to appeal to the disaffected Muslim element in Russian Central Asia.

This is my fourth book I have read from Hopkirk. He is a great story teller and weaves his several themes well in this book. I have enjoyed his books greatly and wish he would write on other subjects. This is a fascinating read.

Another Hopkirk Treasure.......2007-09-05

You can count on Peter Hopkirk to deliver fascinating accounts of the lands that served as the arena for The Great Game, and this is no exception. In this well-done volume, Hopkirk tells the tales of intrigue launched at the outset of WWI, mostly aimed at the destruction of the British Empire. While the world was focused on the carnage in Europe, a lesser-known war was raging in Central Asia, where the players were the dying Ottoman Empire, the newly emergent Bolsheviks plus Persian and Caucasian forces and, of course, the British. Hopkirk records these events with a journalists eye toward telling a compelling story. So much of today's world was influenced by the events Hopkirk describes. This is a valuable book which rounds out our knowledge of a most turbulent time.

The fire that nearly engulfed the world.......2006-12-15

Hopkirk delivers a wonderful book in his look at how the British Empire was forced to respond to Germany's attempts to destroy its empire. The book is the most terrifying installment of the series as Hopkirk describes Germany's efforts to raise a holy war in the Middle East. The efforts of the British to stop it are impressive and once again show the triumph and finesse of the British imperial system. This is another fascinating book that looks at how the British empire lasted throughout the turbulent years of world war 1. As always the book is very well written and impressively displayed.

An Okay-to-Good Book.......2006-03-23

THE GREAT GAME was a great book. Suspenseful, interesting, etc.

LIKE HIDDEN FIRE, in comparison, doesn't really come close to comparing to THE GREAT GAME.

LIKE HIDDEN FIRE has its moments where you're flipping pages in anticipation of the next page, but in a book with nearly 500 pages, there aren't enough moments like this and the existing moments don't last long enough.

Can't quite really put my finger on any specific issue. The overall storytelling sort of wanders from one area or time into another one, and you weren't quite sure what the connection was. Other accounts are told, only to seem as if there was really no other point to include it.

Don't get me wrong. This is not a bad book, per se. If you haven't read either book yet, read THE GREAT GAME before this one (aside from the fact that THE GRAT GAME historically precedes LIKE HIDDEN FIRE).

Why they call it World War.......2005-01-15

So many aspects of our present world and the dilemmas that plague us now grew out of the backrooms, the backwoods and the backwaters of the world. Even today, Central Asia is a mystery to most people in the US. "Like Hidden Fire" is a great place to start to learn how complex the world is and why the peoples of the Middle East and Central Asia might have just a little mistrust of the West and its motives.

The story is the down and dirty of the German efforts to unseat the British Empire leading up to and during the First World War. It includes efforts to create a Holy War against the British and champion the Kaiser as a "Defender of the Faith" (the Faith in question being Islam, of course).

The trail takes us from intrigue to counter intrigue through Turkey, Iran and into Central Asia where then, as today, the Westerners are more pawns in the local struggles than vice versa.

This is totally relevent to today both in understanding the local issues as well as how shallow the West is in dealing with the people and culture of the Middle East and Central Asia.

The work is as vast and complex as the region and the people it covers. Set some time aside to read it and don't be surprised if you find yourself exploring the people, places and other works that are cited in the book.

-Mike

Reversing the Gaze: Amar Singh's Diary: A Colonial Subject's Narrative of Imperial India

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Reversing the Gaze: Amar Singh's Diary: A Colonial Subject's Narrative of Imperial India
Amar Singh , Mohan Singh Kanota , and Lloyd I. Rudolph
Manufacturer: Westview Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

An engrossing narrative of a colonial subject's life contemplating his Imperial masters at the height of colonialism in India; based upon the first eight years of his life-long diary.

Amar Singh, a Rajput nobleman and officer in the Indian Army, kept a diary for forty-four years, from 1898, when he was twenty, until his death in 1942. In it he writes about the Jodhpur court, the Imperial Cadet Corps, and the British Expeditionary Force in China during the Boxer rebellion. A century before hybridity, he constructs a hybrid self, an Edwardian officer cum gentleman and a martial Rajput cum manor lord. With a diary acting as an alter ego and best friend, Amar Singh resists becoming "a coolie for the raj" when he finds the British to be friends as well as racist masters. He writes and reads extensively -"to keep himself amused," he says, and to avoid the boredom of princedom and raj philistinism. Here the authors focus on the first eight years of Amar Singh's diary (1898-1905), offering a rare and intimate glimpse into the British colonialism from the point of view of a loyal subject. Illustrated with fifty photographs and facsimiles from Amar Singh's readings.

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Ain-i Akbari
Abu-l-Fazl Allami
Manufacturer: Manas Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 8175362286

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Votes and Violence: Electoral Competition and Ethnic Riots in India (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics)
Steven I. Wilkinson
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Institutions and Ethnic Politics in Africa (Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions)

Hegemony and Culture: Politics and Change among the Yoruba

The Logic of Violence in Civil War (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics)

Understanding Ethnic Violence: Fear, Hatred, and Resentment in Twentieth-Century Eastern Europe (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics)

Making Votes Count: Strategic Coordination in the World's Electoral Systems (Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions)

ASIN: 0521536057

Book Description

Revealing why Hindu-Muslim riots in India break out when and where they do, Steven Wilkinson demonstrates why some state governments in India prevent Hindu-Muslim riots while others do not or even help to incite violence. Wilkinson asserts that riots are manipulated to help win elections, and that state governments decide whether to stop them--depending on electoral calculations concerning the loss or gain of votes. He tests this claim using a dataset on riots and their causes as well as case studies of several Indian states.

Me and Rumi: The Autobiography of Shams-I Tabrizi

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Brilliant and Necessary
Meeting Shams of Tabriz
long-awaited Autobiography - Shams, the strange Companion

Me and Rumi: The Autobiography of Shams-I Tabrizi
Shams-i Tabrizi
Manufacturer: Fons Vitae
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1887752528

Book Description

The astounding autobiography of the man who transformed Rumi from a learned religious teacher into the world's greatest poet of mystical love.

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant and Necessary.......2007-09-26

It's hard to overstate the importance of this beautiful book to anyone who has been touched by the Sufi path, and especially Rumi. Chittick has provided us with a portrait of Rumi's master, Shams of Tabriz--and he's not what one might expect.

Rumi has become famous in the contemporary West for his divine poetry--and rightly so: he is one of humanity's greatest lovers and poets, and this comes across in every line. But as others have asked: Do we honestly know what this "love" Rumi talks about really is?

Here we have Shams of Tabriz, master to Rumi, the man Rumi loved most in the world, in Rumi's eyes a spiritual being of the first order. And he can be cruel, insensitive, and harsh. Lots of people around him hate him. If I remember correctly, he even makes a fart joke at one point.

He's seen as almost an embarrassment in a company of dervishes and scholars. And yet one suspects that this has more than a little to do with his ruthless and relentless practice of exposing imposture and hypocrisy--reminiscent of the work of Jesus, with the same sad, predictable result.

The connection between Rumi's love and this wild man's character is the absolute, uncompromising love of God. For this, really, is the love of Rumi: it brooks no insincerity or reservation. It is the essence of Islam: utter submission to the divine. Shams reminds us, as he reminded those around him, that this has nothing at all to do with sweet words and noble sentiments, with putting on spiritual airs and gaining the admiration of the faithful.

This can be a painful reminder. It threatens what the ego craves. And the love of God threatens the self as well--as Rumi and Shams both show us, when we truly love God, there is only love and God: we disappear. Shams' job was to show Rumi what this really meant. Rumi's job was to show us--despite the fearful protestations of the ego--what it really is: beautiful and joyful.

God bless William Chittick for this wonderful gift.

Meeting Shams of Tabriz.......2005-02-13

Who was Rumi's beloved? Who was this dervish who overturned Rumi's world, leading him to leave the safe path of knowledge and enter the burning path of love? Who was he before he met Rumi and how was he changed by this encounter? If you, like me, wondered about this timeless story of lover and beloved, you can meet Shams in this book and read his own words in English for the first time. Although it lacks a narrative structure, it brings him alive in moments of vitality. The story of Rumi and Shams is the story of the meeting of two human beings that, like the conjunction of two planets, realigned the fates. My novel about them, like Siddhartha or Last Temptation of Christ, is the tale of the lover of God, the mythic story of the human soul. This book offers a description of the human beloved who stood, for Rumi, as the divine beloved.

long-awaited Autobiography - Shams, the strange Companion.......2004-11-11

"When a sincere man begins to dance,
the seven heavens, the earth, and all creatures begin to dance." - Shams

Little did we know about Shams Tabrizi, except that he was the enigmatic master of Maulana Jalalludin Rumi. Now we may get an inside picture through this wonderful autobiography, translated by a thorough scholar (William Chittick). Moreover, it may correct certain childish misconceptions we may have had about both Rumi and Shams.

This is an authentic biography, however rather atypical. From the translator's introduction: "The first thing we need to remember about the Discourses is that it was not written by Shams. Rather, one or more individuals in Rumi's intimate circle took notes while Shams was speaking, often, but not always, when Rumi was present. (...) What is certain is that he never saw a final version - or if he did, it has not survived." Consequently, this autobiography does not read as a continuous story, but consists of random notes in the original manuscript, organized however into chapters in this English translation.

Who was Shams Tabrizi? You must read the book in order to answer this question for yourself. Shams recounts: "What then do you know of me? I went into that thicket where lions wouldn't dare to go (...) and awesomeness settled into me." Indeed, what did anyone know of him?

What is clear from this book is that Shams's heart-secret (sirr-e asrar) was no match for contemporary mystics, although he did respect just one or two or perhaps a few.
With every encounter he would reveal the other's state (hal) and spiritual standing (maqam) through gnostic insight, and invariably he would manifest as idol-breaker. Then they would flee his presence, being incapable to tolerate his face.
He is very critical even of the great ones in Sufism, particularly Bayazid Bistami and Mansur Hallaj, whom he frequently mentions in comparisons, or even Junayd. He says: "The station of `He is the Real' is far above that of `I am the Real'. And explains: "The difference between me and the great ones is just that - what I have inwardly is exactly what's outward."

He appears to have been vastly different from other Sufi masters. Whereas others would train recipients with "preparedness" to become saints (wali) and masters in their own right, Shams was made for a different task. He says: "I haven't come to do with the common people in this world - I haven't come for them. I've put my finger on the pulse of those who guide the world to the Real."
He explains, "If everyone in the inhabited quarter was on one side and I was on the other, I would answer every one of their difficulties. I would never flee from speaking (...) The inhabited quarter is where the people reside. The other three quarters burn from the shining of the sun, so people don't live there."

All his life he served the Companion. "My goal in the idol-temple is the image and beauty of Your face. If I want the idol of words for the sake of those meanings, it will not happen without the Companion. The Companion must be there."
And elsewhere: "When someone finds the way to be my companion, his mark is that companionship with others becomes cold and bitter for him." And: "I have a pearl within me. Whenever I show its face to anyone, he becomes estranged from all his companions and friends."

He would accept no disciple, but all his life he was waiting for the one, to become his sole companion; who was to be Jalalludin Rumi. Shams: "From the day I saw your beauty, inclination and love for you sat in my heart."
And he explains: "There are many great ones whom I love inwardly. There's affection, but I don't make it manifest. Once or twice when I made it manifest, I did something while keeping company with them, and they didn't know and recognize their duty in companionship. I took it upon myself not to let the affection become cold. When I made it manifest with Mawlana, it increased and did not lessen."

If you read carefully, you may discover from the text the universal rule of companionship and its graceful severity: "What is before your heart? Say whatever there is! If there is an obstacle, tell me about it. If you tell me about the obstacle, I will teach you the Path. It will become easy, because I know the Path better than you."
And elsewhere: "Whatever the state that comes, you should quickly tell the companion about it and be done with it. Don't think, "How can I talk like this to the companion?" The companion will see it, even if you don't talk about it." And: "As long as pride and existence are within you, you must say `God is greater', and you must intend the sacrifice."

"Without doubt, whenever you sit with someone and are with him, you will take on his disposition. On whom have you been gazing that tightness should have come into you? If you look at green herbs and flowers, freshness will come. The sitting companion pulls you into his own world. That is why reciting the Koran purifies the heart, for you remember the prophets and their states. The form of the prophets comes together in your spirit and becomes its sitting companion."

What they experienced in their mutual company transcended the secret-of-secrets of anyone but themselves. Rumi sung in verse: "The whole description of Godhead in Shams of Tabriz transcends any notions concerning free will and ordainment." While Shams: "This was a cask of Divine wine, its lid caked with grime. No one was aware of this. The cause of this cask being opened was Maulana. Whoever seeks to understand this must be aware that the cause has been Maulana."

We do not know what befell Shams when he finally disappeared. After Rumi's death, Fakhruddin `Eraqi (his contemporary poet-mystic) would often speak of Rumi; he would sigh and say, "No one ever understood him as he should have been understood. He came into the world a stranger, and left it a stranger."

When one reads a translation cum introduction by a scholar, one doesn't want to "read" the ego of the scholar between the lines. One doesn't want to be put on sidetracks by speculative claims that serve nobody but vain academia. Far from such limitations, I think Chittick has done a thorough scholarly job. This book is a must-own for anyone seriously interested in Islamic Sufism (or any tradition for that matter) in general, and (auto)biographies of mystics in particular, even though this autobiography forever remains: advanced reading.

"I'll not put you in the heart or you'll be wounded,
I'll not keep you in the eye or you'll be lowly.
I'll give you a place in the spirit, not the eyes or the heart,
so you'll be my companion at the least breath."

"Even if it be after a thousand years, these words will reach those for whom they're intended."

"They're all seeking the benefit of knowledge. You should seek for good deeds, so that you may obtain good from the Companion. This is the kernel, that is the husk."

Sepoys in the Trenches: The Indian Corps on the Western Front 1914-15

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Sepoys in the Trenches: The Indian Corps on the Western Front 1914-15
Gordon Corrigan
Manufacturer: Spellmount
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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