In the age of Wikipedia, it has been forgotten how important the Encyclopaedia Britannica once was in the mind of the English-reading Indian. Seen as the supreme repository of knowledge, it was also a status symbol sought as bookshelf adornment.

What most people do not know is how an intrepid band of Tamil intellectuals, inspired seventy-five years ago by the  Britannica,  decided to create an encyclopaedia in their own language. The odds against realising this ideal were impossible. And yet the project of compiling the  Kalaikkalanjiyam  – the Tamil Encyclopaedia – began and was soon unstoppable.

This intriguing episode of Indian intellectual life is as forgotten as its narration here is compelling. Book history comes brilliantly alive in A.R. Venkatachalapathy’s vibrant chronicling – from the conception of an extravagant idea to its execution as a printed work. This story of lofty ideals and financial scandals, bruised egos and ideological conflicts reveals a fascinating world of cultural enterprise, political struggle, and regional nationalism.