Charles Allen's aim in writing a biography of Ashoka is laudable. However, although we know Ashoka as the benevolent, paternalistic Emperor who respected all religions while promoting Buddhism, we still don't know enough about his life to fill 400 pages. So instead of being a biography of Ashoka, Allen's latest book is mainly about the British men-and they are all men-who rediscovered his existence. In fact, Ashoka is a companion volume to two of Allen's earlier works on the history of archaeology Read more [...]