The Golden Road

I'm a big fan of William Dalrymple and Anita Anand's podcast, Empire, but I've never read any of William Dalrymple's history books before. The Golden Road explores the influence of ancient Indian culture on the world -- Buddhism and Hinduism spread both east and west, as far as China, and had a huge influence on the Arab world, while so-called 'Arabic' numerals and especially the concept of zero were actually Indian in origin.

Dalrymple writes in a clear and engaging style, and has an eye for the lively anecdote that keeps the narrative moving. But to my shame, my complete ignorance of world history outside Europe often left me feeling out of my depth, paddling helplessly in a sea of names and dates and places that were unfamiliar to me. I'm not sure I'll remember a lot of what I read in The Golden Road, but hopefully it might have laid down a foundation for learning in the future.