The military history of Bharat is as panoramic and vast as the Indian subcontinent in which it is rooted. It is epic—literally and figuratively—as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata unveil. It is magnificent, heroic, and heart-wrenching. Above all, it has transformed India’s rise into a formidable world power.

Few books have attempted to embrace this panorama between their covers, none visually. Yodha: Illustrated Military History of India is the first work to bring this rich military history alive through over 1,600 stunning illustrations, paintings, and photographs.

Published in two volumes, the first volume covers the period from The Epics (BCE) to The Uprising (1857), and the second volume covers the period from The Crown (1858) to The Kargil War (1999).

Painstakingly written and put together by the eminent military historian Shiv Kunal Verma, this masterly work deserves a place on every bookshelf—that of the student or teacher, soldier or civilian, fauji enthusiast or academic researcher.

About the Author
Born into an army family—more precisely 2 RAJPUT, which was his father’s battalion—the author’s early childhood was tempered by the fact that most soldiers were then posted in field areas away from home. Brought up under the watchful eye of a remarkable mother, after his initial schooling at St Joseph’s Academy and a year at Fort Benning in the United States, he was sent to the Doon School, an institution that would shape his entire outlook towards life. After graduating from Madras Christian College in Tambaram, his initial years were spent working with Tiger Tops Mountain Travel in Ladakh and Nepal.

Subsequently, a journalist, a filmmaker and a writer, he has worked briefly with India Today, the Associated Press and Sanctuary Films before he teamed up with his associate Dipti Bhalla and formed KaleidoIndia, under which banner some classic films like Salt of the Earth and the Standard Bearers were shot and produced. In 1999, he filmed the Kargil War and, in the last decade and a half, has authored some exceptional books that include the Northeast Trilogy, 1962: The War That Wasn’t and 1965: A Western Sunrise. He is now working on the seminal Value Education Program for schools that aims at bringing India to Indians especially at the school and college levels.