A Princess Remembers is a terrific book for anybody who wants to understand India--what it was, what it is, and how it has made the very bumpy journey from then to now. Not only does it give a very good glimpse of the system of Maharahas that once ran the country, but because Gayatri Devi served in the Indian Parliament, it provides a fascinating window on the triumphs and pitfalls of an emerging democracy. The Maharani has lived a life that reaches from the not-so-old days of Purdah--when a princess was not free to show her face in public when men were present--through the jet-set world of a more modern, educated royalty, to the productive (and not-so-productive) era of state and world politics. Her life reflects, from a high mirror, the tremendously complicated life of her beloved state of Jaipur and her country, and as such, it definitely deserves to be read. But her story also explains much for those of us who have traveled to India and marveled at the forts and the grand palace hotels, and even, perhaps, met scions of the old ruling families. The picture of India that a traveler forms is not truly coherent without literature about the Maharajas. This book provides a rare, personal, readable, non-scholarly source, a vital piece of the enormously complex puzzle that is today's India.