Mathurā : the cultural heritage /

This volume offers excellent examples of recent work in a growing area of academic interest in North America: Sikh studies. It is the result of an international and interdisciplinary conference held at the University of Michigan in 1986 on the theme of the emigration of Sikhs from their traditional homeland in India's Punjab over the last century. In the book's initial section, W.H. McLeod and the editors set both the topic and the scholarly literature on it into a clear historical perspective. In the second section, four anthropological case studies describe and analyze Sikh communities in California, Canada, Britain, and East Africa. The third section deals with current patterns of involvement of overseas Sikhs in the Punjab's economy and politics; it can help one interpret stories about "Sikh separatism" that appear in the daily newspapers. A concise bibliographical essay by Barrier concludes the volume. This fine scholarly reference richly complements R.B. Williams's Religions of Immigrants from India and Pakistan (CH, May'89). Extensive references; glossary; index. Appropriate for academic libraries at all levels. -G. R. Thursby, University of Florida