The Golden Road
The Golden Road by William Dalrympleby William Dalrymple
Shares rank 28 of 51 history books by recommenders
Recommended for explaining India's cultural, economic and religious influence across Eurasia before and during the Middle Ages, and for making history enjoyable to read.
Recommended for explaining India's cultural, economic and religious influence across Eurasia before and during the Middle Ages, and for making history enjoyable to read.
4 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 4
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 4 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Explains India's Eurasian cultural influence
“It explains the crucial cultural, economical, and religious influence that India had in Eurasia before and during the middle ages.”
Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?” Better than Frankopan's similar book
“succeeds at Frankopan's objective and I found it much better in general”
Comment from 23 Apr 2026 in “An amateur historian's favorite books about the Silk Road” Enjoyable history writing
“Makes reading history enjoyable.”
Comment from 14 Jul 2026 in “An Englishwoman who sketched India before photography took hold” Good follow-up to Frankopan
“I think I'll need to read Dalrymple to be fully sated”
Comment from 23 Apr 2026 in “An amateur historian's favorite books about the Silk Road”
Other history books people recommend
The four most recommended other history books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Dawn of Everythingby David Graeber and David Wengrow | 23 | 5 | 82% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Cadillac Desertby Marc Reisner | 18 | 0 | 100% | 11 | — | Approved |
| The Boxby Marc Levinson | 16 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Sapiensby Yuval Noah Harari | 13 | 9 | 59% | 8 | — | — |
| The Golden Roadby William DalrympleThis page | 4 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 4 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Makes reading history enjoyable.”
“I think I'll need to read Dalrymple to be fully sated”
“succeeds at Frankopan's objective and I found it much better in general”
“It explains the crucial cultural, economical, and religious influence that India had in Eurasia before and during the middle ages.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.