Ahh yes, another post-structuralist attempt at deconstructing a religion which posits the absoluteness of truth and its primacy in human life. Nesbitt takes over from where the notorious McLeod left off after being caught red-handed fabricating evidence to back up his fallacious claims on the field of Sikh studies. The entire book is narrated in a monotone voice with Nesbitt resorting to her tried and tested tactic of throwing in the occasional line of hyped-up academic jargon where she fails to make a convincing argument (the whole book is full of this failure sadly) and otherwise dismissing the lived experience of Sikhs themselves. An insult to the Sikh faith and the impartial academics studying it. This would make the Victorian orientalists of yesteryear proud and that should indicate to you how far removed from reality this book is. ( )

Solidly fine, but that's about it; this book is very strangely structured, and uninterested in answering even the most basic questions about the beliefs that feed into Sikh practices. It's nice to know about those practices, of course, but without any context, it's hard to see why anyone is doing them. It's as if someone wrote about the various rituals of communion in Christianity without bothering to explain that Jesus is the son of God. Why are these people so obsessed with these little wafers of bread? It doesn't even taste good. ( )

Again, a very readable introduction to the topic, this time, Sikhism. Seemed to give a balanced view of the differing sects within the religion. Indexed with an extensive reading list. Glossary.