Challenging Destiny

Amazing and captivating

I finished the book within 5 days. could not stop listening. Author has made it very interesting. you will not read this in our history books. a must listen for every Indian on one of the greatest Indian kings who fought Mughals and one of the reasons for the beginning of the downfall of Mughal empire. Mughal empires atrocities against Hindus is also explained in great detail with references

2 people found this helpful

Nothing great except the name and person.

The content is too overladen with citations and cross references. It thereby goes into loops of parallel stories and loses focus. No language coordinator used in the production - hence pronunciations of names or places is incorrect at most places. Poor voice modulation. Narrative and narration, both are weak.

5 people found this helpful

Excellent insight about Shivaji Maharaj's life

Staying in Maharashtra, I always wanted to read about Shivaji Maharaj's life and his administration skills. This book gave me lot of details about his life and help me understand the great man.

1 person found this helpful

once you start no way. to stop it..

brilliant and gripping story telling. with facts and references and dates.. every indian should read this book.

1 person found this helpful

a must read for every Indian

good but the references and foot notes could have been kept for the end as another chapter

Avinash kumar singh have not given proper voice

overall written is good but an indian spoke person reading like english man . Hence he is pronouncing words wrongly.

Good balance of facts with purpose and vision

About the book: It is well known that historical accounts are among the hardest to narrate. Normally what one observes is that a biographer ends up veering too much towards bland facts, leaving the reader to choose the sense of the narrative by oneself for oneself. The consequence of this would be to lose much of the sense of 'destiny' or 'purpose' in the life of the central character, especially when the character actually deserves it. Alternatively a historian might show blatant ideological leanings in the narrative, which often ends up smudging facts to water the ideological 'tree'. This book maintains a fine balance of maintaining credibility about the historical research behind the narrative, and not losing the sense of destiny in the life of the character. I have enjoyed this book very much and also feel entitled to expect a part 2 and even part 3 of this narrative, leading to the life of the next generations of the Maratha Empire, upto the last days of the empire.
About the audio narration: The narration is commendable with the apt speed and carry. However I feel some of the pronunciations of Indian names of places need to be improved upon. Nonetheless a very good audio experience of the book. However , you might consider increasing the volume possibility a little.
Many thanks for this book.

kirtivasan

Chatrapati shivaji ,what an enigma, what leadership truly amazing, loved it great reading wow

Amazing but need concentration

This book is like love the more time you spent better it become. however it requires your concentration to grasp geography in the starting but without understanding you cannot understand why we call him Chatrapati shivaji.

I only wish it was longer

There are not enough English audiobooks on Indian history. This one has only whet my appetite for more.