A marvelous—and marvelously ambitious—book ... With finesse, the author dwells on the symbolism of dams in India ... While Mr. Sen’s book is undeniably academic, it is pleasingly written and indisputably the single best text on the Ganges and its history.
Does not disclose any new information culled from any lost and found scrolls, papyruses, sketches, artifacts, or manuscripts. The book relies on various known but scattered sources to trace the many biographies of the river. It is a sort of meta-analysis that skillfully pulls together the bits and pieces of information, the macro and micro stories, from various disciplines to compose a more panoramic view of the Ganges, popularly known as Ganga in many languages of the sub-continent ... almost a reference book, written over many years as the complexity of details demonstrates. It is a scholarly tome that brings together historical materials related and unrelated to the river ... This Yale book is a sumptuous buffet and there is plenty for everyone to savor, munch, binge, and even take some home for family and friends.
An all-encompassing history of the river, its ecologies and the people who have lived alongside it for millenniums ... as there are more historical accounts to rely on as various kingdoms were built up and battled over control of the river, the details of dynasty, war and succession bog down Sen’s writing. Snipped narratives of the various kingdoms that fought through the first 1,000 or so years of the common era dominate this middle section, and time (rather necessarily) passes too quickly as Sen details the rise and fall of dynastic rulers in the space of a few pages.
For the bulk of Sen’s book, the environmental factors take a backseat to far more traditional events of panoramic histories ... Readers must expect the lacunae of such an approach, of course. Like the river itself, Sen’s book touches on dozens of key points and then flows on its way. The stunning ecology of the Ganges, for instance, its endangered present-day wildlife and wetlands, is only glancingly mentioned. And although Sen is deftly conversant in India’s great literary tradition, his book doesn’t throw prolonged focus on the renowned spiritual side of the Ganges ... What readers will get here instead is a glittering current of impressions and eras, a book very much meeting Sen’s own description of the goddess Ganga herself: part human, part water.
