The Sikhs of the Punjab (The New Cambridge History of India)

This is a dense, fact-packed book. It is not lightly written, but a rigorous and serious academic study of the Sikh people from their inception with the Guru Nanak up to the period of political turmoil that both preceded and followed the Operation Bluestar raid in Amritsar. Academics will no doubt find this a valuable treasure to have on their shelves, but the reader who is not anointed in the history or religion of the Sikhs will find this a difficult, arduous read. So, for the initiated I would give it five stars, but for the novice more like three - so I have compromised on four. If you want to know about the Sikhs and their history, you should read this book, but if you don't know anything about them, you should start elsewhere and work your way towards this book.

I needed this for a class, but it's a great read if you'd like to get educated on Sikhi.

From medieval Punjab to contemporary issues, this book from Grewal is fascinating. The only black spot is that the history of proper Sikh Gurus is written without substantial effort.