History Of Kerala

The History of Kerala is a monumental work in four volumes. Chaplain of Cochin (1717-23), Jacobus Canter Visscher wrote descriptive letters to his friends and which were edited and published. K.P. Padmanabha Menon re-edited the English translation of the letters with an extensive and exhaustive commentary. His notes speak eloquently of his wide range of information and study and no less of his power to present the varied material into a highly readable historical narrative. The author has used Visscher's book as the thread on which to string the ancient history of Kerala. It contains cameos on many of the important events and institutions, customs and manners and the salient features of the region, and of its social, political and economic conditions, based as far as possible, on contemporary records.