Alot has been written about people who came at various times in history, but not enough about those who went from here to strange and surmising foreign lands.

Way before brains and planes, speed and luxury, these intrepid globetrotters from India braved stormy seas and traversed hostile territories, documenting their travels and travails in detailed and often amusing accounts.

Anuradha Kumar’s Across the Seven Seas brings together 14 dramatic accounts of Indian travellers from the 18th and 19th centuries, giving a vivid view of the world as it was then. These are stories of exploration and adventure,

wonderment and acceptance. These are tales of great opportunities and tragic failures. These are chronicles of daring and discovery.

You will marvel at the Mughal emperor’s emissary to the British king; the scientific genius who studies the power of steam; the army camp follower who became the master of shampooing; the legal eagle who was the Indian woman to study law abroad; and the yogi who took the crowds by storm...These are the stories of travellers who traced pioneering routes to England, Italy, Turkey, Russia, America, China and more, all at a time of revolutionary technological advances, pervasive colonialism and amazing journeys...

Anuradha Kumar aka Anu Kumar studied at Delhi University where she did a Masters in History, and the XLRI School of Business in Jamshedpur. She has written several books for children and older readers alike, and two of her stories were awarded by the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association in 2004 and 2010. Her most recent books for Hachette India have been It Takes a Murder (for adults, 2013) and three titles in the ‘What They Did, What They Said’ series, featuring Chanakya, Sarojini Naidu and Vivekananda She lives in Maryland, US, with her husband and daughter, and is pursuing the MFA programme of writing the Vermont College of Fine Arts.