I could not maintain an active interest in this book as I was reading it, even though it seemed interesting when I bought it. The author discusses traditional European views on India, mostly from the 19th century but occasionally all the way up to modern times. Obviously most of the old views were badly misinformed and racist, no surprise there. But the author doesn't really offer anything else beyond this obvious conclusion. He presents the views of previous authors in tedious detail and his own views in unclear language. Maybe it all makes sense to "indologists", but it certainly didn't to me. I was bored stiff by this book and I don't recommend it.