"Land of the Marathas, Western India, 1641-1660 The Indian sub - continent is ruled by three tyrannical Sultanates... the powerful Mughals in the North, and the Shia rulers - Adilshah and Qutubshah in the South. The native population, supressed for centuries, is subjected to slavery, bigotry, injustice and even torture. Through generations of subservience, the very idea of freedom has been wiped from their minds. As incessant battles rage between the Sultanates, the soldiers who fight and die on the battlefields are mostly Marathas, sons of the soil. Villages and crops are repeatedly razed by the invading armies, men killed in both peacetime and war, their women abducted. Maharashtra, once a prosperous land ruled by competent native rulers and inhabited by peaceful people, has been reduced almost to a wasteland. In this dark era, the sixteen-year-old son of an Adilshahi jagirdar stands up to declare: “I shall not serve, and neither shall my people!” The dream of a free State and an identity for his peoplesmouldering in his heart, he dares to rebel against the powerful Sultan, Adilshah. He begins with nothing... no army, no weapons and an empty treasury. Yet he achieves what no soldier, chieftain or king has ever achieved in defiance of the imperialists who rule. 300 Brave Men is the incredible story of Chhatrapati Shivaji Raje Bhosale, a legendary warrior king, guerrilla fighter, brilliant tactician and clever diplomat. But above all, a remarkable human being. You have read history... now read his story..."

LAND OF THE MARATHAS, WESTERN INDIA, 17TH CENTURY For the first time in over three centuries, the Maratha homeland has seen one of its own sons crowned as a sovereign King. The coronation of Maharaj Shivaji Raje Bhosale as the first Maratha Chhatrapati, has added a new political power in the Deccan, and changed the course of Indian history. Chhatrapati Shivaji expands his holdings, first along the west coast, and later along the east coast of the Indian peninsula, in systematically planned and brilliantly executed military campaigns that leave both the Adilshahi and the Mughal Empire dumbfounded. In a year-long campaign into the Adilshahi Karnatak, the Chhatrapati first befriends the Qutubshah, then annexes an entire district, as well as his father’s former estates, subduing his rebellious half-brother. He returns victorious, having changed the political, social and economic future of the South. The true impact of this phenomenal campaign will be felt years after his death, when Aurangzeb launches his final war against the Marathas, and these southern lands provide a safe haven for the Chhatrapati’s younger son. Following his return from this whirlwind campaign, the Chhatrapati struggles to come to terms with his own health, and family strife. Troubled by the growing discord between his eldest son, Sambhaji, and his chief wife, Soyarabai, as also the widening chasm between Sambhaji and his ministers, he loses hope that his beloved Swarajya will hold its own after his demise. Finally, with no solution to the domestic crisis in view, Chhatrapati Shivaji, the extraordinary man, who inspired millions to rebel against bigoted foreign rulers, and established a free state for his people, breathes his last and passes into Legend.

LAND OF THE MARATHAS, 1661 – 1674 Epic Story of Shivaji Maharaj, India’s Greatest Warrior-King, And Birth of the Maratha Empire Shivaji Bhosale’s struggle against imperial powers continues as massive Mughal armies repeatedly descend upon his tiny fiefdom. Emperor Aurangzeb recognizes the dangerous threat of the Mountain Rat and resolves to finish him off, once and for all. He sends Shaista Khan, his maternal uncle, with a large army, but Shivaji, in a daring night raid, attacks the much decorated Mughal General, cutting off his fingers. Turning his attention once again to Sultan Adilshah, Shivji systematically expands his holdings in the Konkan. Along the coast, the British, Portuguese and Abyssinian also find him a serious obstacle to their coastal interests. Infuriated, the Mughal Emperor sends Jai Singh and Diler Khan to the Deccan with another large army. Jai Singh proves to be the toughest challenge Shivaji has faced. After winning almost every battle for two decades, Shivaji is finally subdued by Jai Singh and faces the humiliation of receiving Aurangzeb’s firmaan to surrender a large part of his fiefdom and serve in the Mughal army. In a final insult, Shivaji is compelled to visit Agra and bow before Aurangzeb at court. By royal order, he and his son are detained in Agra, under heavy guard. The ingenious Maratha, however, foiling all attempts to assassinate them, escapes, leaving the Emperor seething in impotent fury. Safely home again, Shivaji embarks on the re-conquest of his lost forts and territories. Finally, in 1674, in defiance of imperial rule, he crowns himself King of the Marathas. After more than three and a half centuries of enslavement, the Marathi people have their own King. Shivaji Raje Bhosale thus becomes Chhatrapati, Lord of the Royal Umbrella…

About the Book A MASSIVE BESTSELLER THAT HAS SOLD OVER 1,00,000 COPIES IN MARATHI. Even as a child, Sambhaji has known he must stand alone. His mother died when he was barely two, and his father was always absent—chasing his own dream of ‘Swaraj’, fighting to keep the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb at bay. As the eldest son, Sambhaji is the true heir to Shivaji. He is valorous, wise and has the makings of a capable statesman. But there are dark forces at play in the palace. Shivaji’s other queen, Soyrabai, is scheming to place her son Rajaram on the throne, and she has the support of several ministers whose misdemeanours Sambhaji is determined to expose. On 3 April 1680, Shivaji dies unexpectedly, and it is finally time for Sambhaji to rise to the challenge. He must now fight Aurangzeb, who has spent twenty years trying to smoke out the ‘mountain rat’, and whose presence in the Deccan poses an increasingly grave threat to the Maratha empire. And what could be better than the enemy’s own brother-in-law willing to hand him the rat on a platter. Cinematic and ambitious in its scope, this is a keenly researched and splendidly executed period drama about one man’s struggle to preserve his father’s legacy and of the price extracted by the throne and the homeland.

21 riveting stories from the battlefield about how India’s highest military honour was won The Brave takes you to the hearts and minds of India’s bravest soldiers, all of whom won the Param Vir Chakra, India’s greatest military honour. With access to the Army, families and comrades-in-arms of the soldiers, Rachna Bisht Rawat paints the most vivid portrait of these men and their extraordinary deeds. How hard is it to fight at 20,000 feet in sub-zero temperatures? Why did Captain Vikram Batra say ‘Yeh dil maange more’? How do wives and girlfriends of soldiers who don’t return cope? What happens when the enemy is someone that you have trained? How did the Charlie Company push back the marauding Chinese? How did a villager from Uttar Pradesh become a specialist in destroying tanks? Both gripping and inspiring, The Brave is the ultimate book on the Param Vir Chakra.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Writing with all the passion of Love Story and power of The Class, Erich Segal sweeps us into the lives of the Harvard Medical School's class of 1962. His stunning novel reveals the making of doctors—what makes them tick, scheme, hurt . . . and love. From the crucible of med school’s merciless training through the demanding hours of internship and residency to the triumphs—and sometimes tragedies—beyond, Doctors brings to vivid life the men and women who seek to heal but who must first walk through fire. At the novel’s heart is the unforgettable relationship of Barney Livingston and Laura Castellano, childhood friends who separately find unsettling celebrity and unsatisfying love—until their friendship ripens into passion. Yet even their devotion to each other, even their medical gifts may not be enough to save the one life they treasure above all others. Doctors—heartbreaking, witty, inspiring, and utterly, grippingly real—is a vibrant portrait that culminates in a murder, a trial . . . and a miracle.

The glorious tales of brave Indic resistance to invaders are still not fully known to us. This book contains 52 stories of valour, a tribute to these unsung warriors, both men and women from the last1300 years.