Sumptuously illustrated with panoramic photographs and exquisite close-ups, this volume attempts to be a survey of the major Mughal monuments and gardens in precolonial north India from the sixteenth to the early nineteenth century. At first glance, art historian George Michell and photographer Amit Pasricha's effort seems to be a rather heavy coffee table book. But after a closer engagement, the reader may realize that it requires more than just a cursory glance typically afforded to coffee table books. It provides extensive descriptions of design and contextualizes the architecture and gardens in their urban locales. The reader is taken from the Mughal capitals of Delhi, Agra, and Fatehpur Sikri to Kashmir in the north, a site of leisure for the royalty, and from Bengal in the east to Lahore in the west and Daulatabad in the southwest.
Michell gestures towards the intended audience, stating, “If the volume can in any...
