India, July 26 -- From the royal Alphonso to the lip-smacking Chausa, nothing can beat the pleasure of biting into a ripe mango. The fruit inspires an astounding cultural devotion. The mango is the Indian subcontinent's gift to the world, its roots in northeast India expanding globally over 60 million years. Appearing in the verses of Hindu epics and Ghalib's poetry, the food habits of the Harappans and the travelogues of Ibn Battuta, the horticultural experiments of Mughal emperors and Jesuit priests, the mango has shaped South Asian culture far beyond its culinary uses. Its long history is intertwined with European colonisation and the transatlantic slave trade. Mango: A Global History, which includes recipes, plunges into the juicy details of a beloved fruit....