‘Michael Fisher’s A Short History of the Mughal Empire is a long overdue scholarly study of the Mughal period in early modern India. There has been no comparably cohesive study of the empire since the great John Richards brought out The Mughal Empire in the early 1990s. While it is described as a “Short History,” Fisher’s study is surprisingly comprehensive and detailed, successfully engaging much of the recent scholarship in Mughal studies and braiding it into a highly accessible and thorough narrative of imperial events. Fisher pays particular attention to creating a rich and thorough context for historical events; for example, his detailed exploration of early sixteenth century Hindustani politics and culture creates a richly contextualized setting for early Mughal raids and military conquest. Unlike earlier narrative histories of the Mughals, including that of Richards, Fisher’s work is sensitive to the critical political role played by women of the Mughal dynasty.