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William Dalrymple's first book, In Xanadu, won the Yorkshire Post Best First Work Award and the Scottish Arts Council Spring Book Award. His third, From the Holy Mountain, won the Scottish Arts Council Autumn Book Award and was shortlisted for the 1998 Thomas Cook Award. His fourth, The Age of Kali, was published in November 1998. He is the youngest Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and has recently written and presented a six-part series on the buildings of the Raj for Channel 4.
William Dalrymple's first book, In Xanadu, earned him many plaudits for the skill of his writing and observation. In City of Djinns his attention turns to the city of Delhi. During a year spent in the city as a newspaper correspondent, Dalrymple began to explore the history of this mysterious place in all its richness. He peels away the layers of the city one by one, exploring its past as the refuge of the Moghul emperor, meeting the last people to recall life under the British Raj, the mysterious eunuchs who live in the city. He visits the shrines, its crumbling palaces, the houses built by the British and explores the largesse of the literary culture which once flourished in the city, hunting for the setting of The Mahabharata. Day by day, he also explores the modern city, meeting its citizens, recording their lives and skirmishing with his taxi driver, and his landlord and landlady, Mr and Mrs Puri. Dalrymple gives us a sharp and detailed account of life in modern India, juxtaposing it with glimpses of Delhi's strange and magical history, providing an unforgettable portrait of one of India's most bewildering cities. Dalrymple is undoubtedly one of the best travel writers of his generation. He combines an insatiable curiosity with an adventurous spirit, folds an erudite and intriguing quest within a pleasing, lucid prose style. (Kirkus UK)
