It is quite surprising that despite the tremendous progress of the Indological studies in the last two centuries no encyclopedic history of Hinduism, by far the greatest contribution of India to the human civilization, has been written. It is of course true that most of its original texts and commentaries there on, innumerable histories of various Hindu sects and sub-sects, chapters on the history of Hinduism in standard works, independent monographs on the various facets of Hinduism and even small monographs on its history have been published by numerous scholars but so far no extensive history of this great religion has been attempted. The present work of S.R. Goyal, one of the greatest historians of Indian religions, we hope, will fill up this long felt desideratum. Especially discernible is the fact that here Goyal delineates the story of Hindu religion against the background of the changes in society and correlates its fortunes with changes in social and political ideas and institutions. We are sure that the world of Indology will welcome it enthusiastically.