The Hindus: An Alternative History
Wendy Doniger
From one of the worlds foremost scholars on Hinduism, a vivid reinterpretation of its historyAn engrossing and definitive narrative account of history and myth that offers a new way of understanding one of the worlds oldest major religions, The Hindus elucidates the relationship between recorded history and imaginary worlds.Hinduism does not lend itself easily to a strictly chronological account: many of its central texts cannot be reliably dated even within a century; its central tenetskarma, dharma, to name just twoarise at particular moments in Indian history and differ in each era, between genders, and caste to caste; and what is shared among Hindus is overwhelmingly outnumbered by the things that are unique to one group or another.
Award History
0 wins · 1 total
| Award | Year | Result | Category / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Book Critics Circle Award for NonfictionMajor | 2009 | Finalist | Secondary source |
Experimental book profileGenerated by GPT-5.4 nano · may contain inaccuracies
This is an unverified interpretation of the catalog description, offered as an opt-in discovery experiment—not as bibliographic fact.
01 Central figures
None extracted with sufficient confidence.
02 Central places
None extracted with sufficient confidence.
03 Suggested argument
Hinduism’s history cannot be strictly chronological because key central texts are hard to date and core tenets like karma and dharma arise at different moments and vary across eras, genders, and castes.
Model confidence 72%
04 Reading orientation
65 / 100 academicAcademic
An estimate of intended readership and scholarly apparatus—not quality or importance.
Confidence percentages are the model's own estimates. Profile confidence: 66%.