Arun Sinha was formerly the news service chief for The Times of India in Patna. He completed this book while holding a Reuters Foundation fellowship at Oxford University.

• Foreword - Terry ByresAn Introduction to BiharPart I: Myth and Reality1. A Thriving Trade2. The Decline of Caste SocietyPart II: Under the Raj3. The Rising of the Chiefs4. The Wrecking of the Countryside5. Farewell to Bows and Arrows6. On the MovePart III: Roads to Freedom7. The Jesus Path8. The Abbey in Bodh Gaya9. The Battle of the Sharecroppers10. How the Thakurs Were Contained11. A More Radical Line12. The Santhals' Struggle13. Life After Death for the Hill PeopleSome ConclusionsNotes

'In Bihar, the Indian state is at war with the poor. Arun Sinha's graphic study, based on his observations as one of India's most respected journalists, brings out the spreading violence in rural India.'Neville Maxwell, journalist and author of India's China War'Arun Sinha is one of India's finest journalists. He leaves the reader with a series of haunting images, and a feeling of having actually experienced something of the reality of the villages of Bihar.'Terry Byres, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London