The Pursuit of Urdu Literature
A Select History

By Ralph Russell

about the book
The Pursuit of Urdu Literature combines an introduction to one of the major literatures of the Indian sub-continent, with the refreshing insights of a man who has spent a life-time studying Urdu and interacting with Urdu speakers. He describes his bafflement on first encountering the poetry of the ghazal, held in the highest esteem by Urdu speakers but said to be almost impossible to translate. He sets the poetry, stories and early novels of Urdu against the social and political forces of the time, an essential entrée for readers new to this literature.

'Ralph Russell, unquestionably the outstanding Western scholar of Urdu of his generation, succeeded in working a magic in bringing his subject to life, rivalled by few teachers in Middle Eastern or Indian languages.' - Professor Christopher Shackle

Price: £9.99
ISBN: 1 85649 029 7
1st published by Zed Books
To order this title please email sales@longstonebooks.co.uk

Absorbing and entertaining insights into life through three decades. A Yorkshire country childhood in the 1920s - the scholarship-boy outsider at a public school - communist students in 1930s Cambridge - war time India. Everywhere it is the man himself we meet - his infectious enthusiasm, his irreverent questioning, his enjoyment of simple things. Find out more...

This book continues the story of Ralph Russell’s life from 1945 when he returned from the war in India, to 1958. It provides a fascinating introduction to a complex period of social and political change.
Losses, Gains is due for release Winter 2007 Find out more...