Empire of the Soul (eBook)

India is a harsh mistress. She seems to appreciate individual sacrifice so little. Yet she has never wanted for lovers...' India demands a passionate response. Paul William Roberts first set foot on Indian soil in 1974, little knowing he was beginning a love affair that continues to this day. After many months of travelling, meeting with an eclectic array of India's inhabitants, from Mother Teresa to the founder of India's first pornographic magazine, from holy man Sai Baba to a sadistic millionaire drug dealer, Roberts returns to the West changed forever by his experiences. Unable to resist India's allure for long however, he is repeatedly drawn to the East. His journeys span thirty years of travel, resulting in a vivid portrait of a vast and intriguing country. Roberts reveals an India of polarities and extremes, of desperate poverty and riches beyond compare. Seductive, mystic, witty, Empire of the Soul is a truly unforgettable book.

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Paul William Roberts's journeys through India span 20 years, and in this volume he creates a mosaic, by turns tragic and comic, of the subcontinent and its people. From the crumbling palaces of maharajas to the slums of Calcutta; from the ashrams of holy men to a millionaire drug dealer's heavily guarded fortress on India's border with China; Roberts seeks to capture the lure of this enigmatic land - this empire of the soul.