The Forgotten Palaces of Calcutta scans the old areas of Calcutta, where heritage houses and history fill every crowded lane and secret courtyard. Languishing in another time and place, at the end of narrow lanes and behind untidy shop-fronts, Calcutta’s rich heritage waits to be rediscovered. The ‘Great Houses’ of Calcutta are an important but forgotten part of Calcutta’s architectural history. While British colonial architecture and lifestyle has been extensively photographed and written about, very little has been done on the indigenous equivalent. Focussing on Calcutta’s heritage mansions and palaces, The Forgotten Palaces of Calcutta, makes an important contribution to the architectural history of both Calcutta and India. The Forgotten Palaces of Calcutta received the Best Book Award, 2007, in Book Cover Category from the Federation of Indian Publishers.

The Forgotten Palaces of Calcutta discovers the old areas of the city, where heritage houses and history fill every crowded lane and secret courtyard. Languishing in another time and place, at the end of narrow lanes and behind untidy shop-fronts, Calcutta's rich heritage waits to be discovered. The great houses of Bengal's merchant princes have been largely forgotten and rarely photographed. Many of the interiors have remained the same for over 200 years. While much has been written and photographed on the British colonial architecture and lifestyle, very little has been

This wandering odyssey through the city's pullulating backstreets 0and serpentine byways reveals a Calcutta rarely glimpsed by western travellers. Arranged as a series of journeys on foot through the older quarters of the city seldom trod by outsiders, the narrative chronicles the topography, social and historical background and the vibrant street life and characters which give Calcutta its uniqueness. Complete with detailed directions and street maps for the areas explored, the book provides a storehouse of indispensable information for the intrepid traveller.

A cultural portrait of the little-known about captital of Bengal, Murshidabad.

A detailed history of churches and their association with Hindu temples, covering a distinctive number of Churches situated in India Highlights the significance of architecture Depicts different segregated groups of Christianity The Churches of India takes the reader on a fascinating journey through India to discover the history and architecture of the country's Christian churches. With fine illustrations and an informative, easy-to-read text the book reveals the diverse architectural styles that have evolved in different regions from the very beginnings of the Common Era identified with the birth of Christ. Churches have been built in greater numbers from the middle of the last millennium when settlers such as the Armenians and colonizers, Portuguese, French and British, brought their own branches of Christianity and religious architecture with them. Many churches were indigenized over time while others have retained their architecture in its pure form. Joanne Taylor's work gives the reader a deep feeling for the range of churches and their architecture, from the humble to the grand. It is also a fine history of the search by those who design or adapt buildings for a self-identity through the symbolism, explicit or implicit, expressed in built forms. Religious buildings give India its identity as a nation of diverse people with their own cultures. It is a country with one of the world's richest architectural traditions. Complemented by over 300 photographs, this absorbing book is the most comprehensive work on India's churches to date.

The primary era of this study - the twentieth century - symbolizes the peak of the colonial rule and its total decline, as well as the rise of the new nation state of India. The processes that have been labeled 'westernization' and 'modernization' radically changed middle-class Indian life during the century. This book describes and explains the various technological, political and social developments that shaped one building type - the bungalow - contemporaneous to the development of modern Indian history during the period of British rule and its subsequent aftermath. Drawing on their own physical and photographic documentation, and building on previous work by Anthony King and the Desais, the authors show the evolution of the bungalow's architecture from a one storey building with a verandah to the assortment of house-forms and their regional variants that are derived from the bungalow. Moreover, the study correlates changes in society with architectural consequences in the plans and aesthetics of the bungalow. It also examines more generally what it meant to be modern in Indian society as the twentieth century evolved.

Mernissi recounts the extraordinary stories of fifteen queen s and reflects on the implications for the ways in which politics is practiced in Islam today, a world in which women are largely excluded form the political domain.