The Nirvana Express

The captivating story of the Wests love affair with Indian spiritualityfrom the orientalism of the British Empire to modern counterculture. In 1897, an Indian yogi exhibited himself at Londons Westminster Aquarium, demonstrating yoga positions to a bemused audience. Four years earlier, Hindu philosopher Swami Vivekananda spoke at the first World Parliament of Religions in Chicago, where Annie Besant extolled the exquisite beauty of his spiritual message. The Victorians were fascinated by, yet suspicious of, Indian religious beliefs and practices. But within two generations, legions of young Westerners were following the hippie trail to the subcontinent, the Beatles meditating at the feet of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Journalist Mick Browns vivid account charts this eccentric history of Western obsessions with Indian faith, through a curious cast of scholars, seekers, charlatans and saints. From bestselling epic poems on the Buddha to murder plots, magic and the occult, The Nirvana Express is an exhilarating, sometimes troubling journey through the Wests search for enlightenment.