Selected Letters of Rabindranath Tagore

Interest in the life and work of Nobel prize-winning writer Rabindranath Tagore is now enjoying a revival after many years of neglect outside India. He wrote thousands of letters in both Bengali and English. Most of the significant Bengali letters have been published in the half-century since his death, but not translated, while few noteworthy English letters are in print. This book, which consists of about 350 letters spanning Tagore's entire life, a quarter of them in English translation, is the first to make his letters available to English readers. They have been especially selected to show as many facets of his experience, interests and ideas as possible. Students of history, politics and literature will find them an invaluable tool, not only for an understanding of the complexity of Tagore's personality, but also of the times in which he lived.

• Many previously unpublished letters included, and also some never available before in English, make fascinating reading
• Publication of the book in 1997, the 50th anniversary of India's independence, is good timing, given Tagore's international reputation
• Editors are well known for their extensive work on the subject