At 08:13  26/02/04 -0800, you wrote: > I read a few books at the asiatic library in bombay . >Here you find old and rare books. The books I read are >old and out of print. I am giving my review > >1)Bhonsle of nagpur and east india company-- >  This gives the detailed history of the biggest >princely state in india till 1857. I am amazed how >little we know of this kingdom of 70,000 sq miles, >almost as large as hyderabad. Details of various >rulers and their campaings is given . But the best >part is that every aspect such as economy, town >planning , commerce trade, land revenue every detail >is covered in this book . Had this state survived it >would have easily dwarfed hyderabad. sadly this el >dorado was lost in 1857. On scale of 10 , give this >book 8. > >2)Sayajirao of baroda- by fatehsinghrao gaekwad. >I expected this book to be biased as it was written by >his great grandson but it is not so. Mr Geakwad has >been very neutral . This book covered sayaji's pubilc >life from childhood till his death . His personal life >is just peppered in. He was am extraordinary man who >did good thing for his people . How he accomplished >this in face of strong opposition from british is crux >of the book. >         What is amazing is the this book tears to >shreds the claim that princes were stooges of the >british. This great ruler almost came on verge of >being desposed by the british for "Sedition" . His >personal life was very tragic . All his sons died very >young and despite his efforts turned out to be >wastrels . His daughter too was widowed at young age >of 30 . His first wife died young . >     On the whole an excellent book and must read for >all . I wish his personal life could have been in a >little more detail. I give this 9 out of 10. > > >:more reviews later I have just received "Maharani: The Story of an Indian Princess" by Brinda, Maharani of Kapurthala as told to Elaine Williams, published 1954. Overall it is disappointing, as this is one lady who loved herself and supposedly everyone loved her. She doesn't mind dropping names of famous people that she met and mentioning how she would have loved to modernise Kapurthala and to have helped the needy, but in reality all she seemed to have done is travel about Europe without achieving anything. Score is 4 out of 10, and thats only because there's a couple of worthwhile photos. Cheers, Henry