Hinduism: A Very Short Introduction

Hinduism has a special place among the world's major religions, being of great antiquity and being, until recent times, an ethnic or racial religion, like Judaism, Sikhism or Shinto. In the last century it has spread its teachings to the West and in doing so has fragmented and branched into an even more complex variety, so that, as the author of this book says, we must now talk of 'Hinduisms', in the plural. So the writing of a very short introduction that will do justice to this subject is a tall order. Kim Knott succeeds splendidly.She does not shirk problematic topics, such as the evils of the caste system or the burning of widows. In fact, she devotes a fair amount of space to the particular difficulties faced by Hindu women.Knott being a British academic, and a Quaker, this is an outsider's view, a learned, sympathetic and interested outsider's view. It is none the worse for that. Including a map, a timeline, a glossary, excellent illustrations and suggestions for further reading, it is packed with a surprising amount of information in such a small space.If you have only a passing interest in Hinduism, this book may tell you all you want to know. If you wish to pursue the study, this is the perfect introduction. A good next step would be an annotated edition of the Bhagavad Gita.

I am using this book in a very short course on Hinduism and Buddhism and paired it with the Damien Keown, VSI-Buddhism. Hardly any students had any familiarity with either tradition. Most preferred the Keown book, though. The reason they gave was that Knott's book, although very readable and informative, left them wondering about what would be considered the fundamentals of Hinduism. Knott does address these aspects of the tradition, but they are woven into the larger narrative of how Hinduism squares with Indian culture. So, while I think Knott has done an admirable job offering AN introduction to Hinduism, someone with no previous knowledge would benefit from a companion, such as Arvind Sharma's A Guide to Hindu Spirituality or Gavin Flood's Introduction to Hinduism. Nonetheless, the book served my purposes very well.

Hinduism: A Very Short Introduction is indeed very short, perhaps too short to do more than scratch to surface of a topic as complex and varied as the religion of Hinduism. This book is a very good introduction for someone who knows little about the subject and would like to learn more, however for someone who does know a something about Hinduism and would like to learn more it is a little unsatisfying. One is left wanting more.

This book was a wonderful way to be introduced to the concepts of Hinduism. Well written, relatively short, and reasonably objective in it's overview; the book highlights how Hinduism is not solely a "religion", but an entire culture. Great for anyone who would like to learn about Hinduism's history and general inner-workings. I would highly suggest anyone interested in in this particular topic use this book as an initial stepping stone to learn more about the Hindu-based philosophies, religion, and culture.

When I received this book in the mail, I was a little surprised to see that it was literally a "very short" introduction to Hinduism. Yet, Kim Knott did a fantastic job cramming as much information in a comprehensible manner in such a little book. As many other reviewers have said, this is a really quick but good introduction to Hinduism.

The book was well written. It encompassed quite a bit in a short amount of time. It gave an overall scholarly look at many aspects of the diversity of Hinduism. It is a good textbook for anyone who wants to start a study of Hinduism.

This book was disappointing to me. I was looking for a book that discussed the Hindu religion - its beliefs, rituals, etc. This book is more of a history of Hinduism and a scholarly analysis. It failed to tell me what a Hindu believes and why. I like to learn about other religions but this is not the book for that. If you're looking to understand Hinduism go somewhere else. It was fine for what it is but I would not recommend it.

Very readable and well written. Upon completion you feel as thoughyou have had a real intro to Hindism. without further reading.

I initially brought this book on recommendation of my tutor who advised us all to purchase it for our degree in religious studies. Having little knowledge of the Hindu faith I found this really useful as it built upon my knowledge I already have attained and furthermore it was simple to understand and follow, it looked at various areas such as basic beliefs, main Gods and even had a section devoted to Hindu women, where Knott looks in depth at the disparity faced by them. Her book makes a clear distinction between those who study Hinduism and those who practice it, so gives a wide view of the faith. I would strongly advise anyone who is studying Hinduism or simply wishing to learn more about the faith to purchase it!!

I felt that this book helped give a nice introduction to Hinduism.

I do Hinduism at a level and hoped this would widen my knowledge for exams whoever it just touches on the premises of the Hindu way of life and doesn't go into a vast amount of detail

good for getting an overview of Hinduism - I bought this book as I am now teaching Hinduism and it is good to have a basic idea of the religion

wanted by my daughter for her coursework. Does the job