Paul William Roberts's journeys through India span 20 years, and in this volume he creates a mosaic, by turns tragic and comic, of the subcontinent and its people. From the crumbling palaces of maharajas to the slums of Calcutta; from the ashrams of holy men to a millionaire drug dealer's heavily guarded fortress on India's border with China; Roberts seeks to capture the lure of this enigmatic land - this empire of the soul.