The 1964 publication of Sir Richard Burton's translation of the Kama Sutra was celebrated as a literary event of the highest importance. As vital to an understanding of ancient Indian civilisation as the works of Plato and Aristotle are to the West, the Kama Sutra has endured for 1,700 years as an indisputable classic of world literature. Written with frankness and unassuming candour, the Kama Sutra remains one of the most readable of all the classics of antiquity. A work of philosophy, psychology, sociology, Hindu dogma, scientific inquiry and sexology, it is an indispensable key to understanding Indian culture.