Sign-In
Cart
Arthashastra's Shadow: How India's Forgotten Thinkers Redefined Strategy Before the West
Paperback
Indian & South Asian HistoryInternational Relations
ISBN13: 9789390349043
Publisher: Vij Books
Published: Oct 30 2025
Pages: 170
Weight: 0.52
Height: 0.39 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
For centuries, the world has looked to Sun Tzu, Machiavelli, and Clausewitz as the ultimate voices on power and war-yet long before them, an Indian thinker had already laid out a sharper, more comprehensive vision of statecraft. This book uncovers the forgotten world of Arthashastra, Kautilya's masterwork on governance, espionage, and diplomacy, revealing how its insights remain strikingly relevant in today's age of shifting alliances and fractured geopolitics.
At its heart lies a provocative question: why has India's strategic genius been erased from the global canon, and what happens when we finally bring it back? Readers are taken inside the Mandala theory of diplomacy, the Saptanga framework of statecraft, and ancient doctrines of espionage and intelligence that rival modern spycraft. These ideas are not relics-they are living tools that explain the ruthless calculus of alliances, the centrality of wealth in power, and the enduring struggle between morality and realpolitik.
This book is for anyone who wants to see beyond the narrow lens of Western strategic thought-students of politics, professionals in business and diplomacy, and curious readers fascinated by the hidden blueprints of power. Through vivid narratives, comparative analysis with Sun Tzu and Machiavelli, and accessible explanations of complex theories, it reframes how we understand leadership, survival, and statecraft.
By the final page, you will have a new map of power-one where Kautilya's strategy, Indian statecraft, and realism in Indian foreign policy stand alongside the great traditions of the world. Whether exploring geopolitics in a multipolar world or seeking timeless lessons on leadership, this book offers a bold, original perspective that challenges everything you thought you knew about strategy.
1 different editions
Also available
Arthashastra's Shadow: How India's Forgotten Thinkers Redefined Strategy Before the West
Kaul, Adrian
Hardcover
Also from
Kaul, Adrian
Arthashastra's Shadow: How India's Forgotten Thinkers Redefined Strategy Before the West
Kaul, Adrian
Hardcover
Also in
Indian & South Asian History
Swift Sword: The True Story of the Marines of MIKE 3/5 in Vietnam, 4 September 1967
Glass, Doyle
Paperback
The Doctor and the Saint: Caste, Race, and Annihilation of Caste, the Debate Between B.R. Ambedkar and M.K. Gandhi
Roy, Arundhati
Paperback
India - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture
Culture Smart!
Stephen, Becky
Paperback
Koh-I-Noor: The History of the World's Most Infamous Diamond
Dalrymple, William
Anand, Anita
Paperback
The New Tech Titans of China: Innovation Under Pressure in the World's Most Ambitious Economy
Fannin, Rebecca
Paperback
Lions of Medina: The True Story of the Marines of Charlie 1/1 in Vietnam, 11-12 October 1967
Glass, Doyle
Paperback
The Children of Mu: Relics of the Diaspora from the Lost Pacific Continent
Churchward, James
Paperback
Decolonizing Anarchism: An Antiauthoritarian History of India's Liberation Struggle
Ramnath, Maia
Paperback
Rambutan: Recipes from Sri Lanka, Accompanying the Acclaimed New London Restaurant
Shanmugalingam, Cynthia
Hardcover
The Trauma of Caste: A Dalit Feminist Meditation on Survivorship, Healing, and Abolition
Soundararajan, Thenmozhi
Paperback
Azadi: Fascism, Fiction, and Freedom in the Time of the Virus (Expanded Second Edition)
Roy, Arundhati
Paperback
Secret Drugs of Buddhism: Psychedelic Sacraments and the Origins of the Vajrayana
Crowley, Michael
Paperback
Women of the Raj: The Mothers, Wives, and Daughters of the British Empire in India
MacMillan, Margaret
Paperback
The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide (Pulitzer Prize Finalist)
Bass, Gary J.
Paperback
The Last Island: Discovery, Defiance, and the Most Elusive Tribe on Earth
Goodheart, Adam
Goodheart, Adam
Hardcover
Five Past Midnight in Bhopal: The Epic Story of the World's Deadliest Industrial Disaster
Lapierre, Dominique
Moro, Javier
Hardcover
Speaking of History: Conversations about India's Past and Present
Thapar, Romila
Arora, Namit
Paperback
The Patient Assassin: A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge, and India's Quest for Independence
Anand, Anita
Paperback
A Passage to Europe: The Astonishing Travels of an Indian Prince in the Age of Revolutions
Markovits, Rahul
Hardcover
Merchants of Death: A Study of the International Armament Industry
Hanighen, F. C.
Engelbrecht, H. C.
Paperback
Slaves from the Tamil Coast and European Trade Around the World: 1547-1792
Stephen, S. Jeyaseela
Hardcover
Eagles of Destiny: Volume 2 - Growth and Wars of the Pakistani Air Force 1956-1971
Shabbir, Usman
Mazhar, Yawar
Paperback
The Language Movement in Bangladesh: Translingualism and a Struggle for Rhetorical Sovereignty
Rabbi, Shakil
Hardcover
Terror and Response: The India-Pakistan Proxy War 2008-2019
Pedroza, Everton
Badri-Maharaj, Sanjay
Paperback
Indies Adventure; the Amazing Career of Afonso De Albuquerque, Captain-general and Governor of India (1509-1515)
Sanceau, Elaine
Paperback
The Language Movement in Bangladesh: Translingualism and a Struggle for Rhetorical Sovereignty
Rabbi, Shakil
Paperback
A Year in Green Tea and Tuk-Tuks: My unlikely adventure creating an eco farm in Sri Lanka
Spowers, Rory
Paperback
Prophetic Maharaja: Loss, Sovereignty, and the Sikh Tradition in Colonial South Asia
Judge, Rajbir Singh
Hardcover
The Deoliwallahs: The True Story of the 1962 Chinese Indian Internment
D'Souza, Dilip
Ma, Joy
Hardcover
The Parliament of Pakistan: A History of Institution-Building and (Un)Democratic Practices, 1971-1977
Hussain, Mahboob
Paperback
Discovering Bhutan: Land of Gross National Happiness
Schofield, Janet Ward
Schofield, Janetward
Paperback
Linguistic Resistance in Pakistan: Punjabi Language Movements After Independence
Columeau, Julien
Paperback
India, Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh Liberation & Pakistan (A Political Treatise)
Banerjee, Sashanka S.
Paperback
Defining a Nation: India on the Eve of Independence, 1945
Embree, Ainslie T.
Carnes, Mark C.
Paperback
Modern Forests: Statemaking and Environmental Change in Colonial Eastern India
Sivaramakrishnan, K.
Paperback
Himmler's Crusade: The Nazi Expedition to Find the Origins of the Aryan Race
Hale, Christopher
Paperback
Modernity and Malevolence in the Psychiatric Clinic: Anxious Selves in Urban and Rural South India
Willford, Andrew C.
Hardcover
Hindu Mythology: A Captivating Guide to Hindu Myths, Hindu Gods, and Hindu Goddesses
Clayton, Matt
Paperback
The Search for the Pink-Headed Duck: A Journey Into the Himalayas and Down the Brahmaputra
Nugent, Rory
Paperback
Punjab and the War of Independence 1857-1858: From Collaboration to Resistance
Sargana, Turab Ul Hassan
Paperback
Ein Ungluck Ist Die Tochter: Zur Diskriminierung Des Madchens Im Alten Und Im Heutigen Indien
Syed, Renate
Paperback