Sunday, December 16, 2001		Books

The icons of modernism with Euroamerican bias
Review by Akshaya Kumar
Modernism
by Peter Childs. Routledge, London and New York. Pages 226. Special Indian Price Rs 375.
MODERNISM is a continuous project that subsumes within itself all the discourses of change and progress. Though as a movement of empirical inquiry it begins from the 14th century European renaissance onwards, it becomes a distinct cultural movement only in the first half of the 20th century.

Technology strips poor of healthcare
Review by Uma Vasudeva
Public Health and the Poverty of Reforms: The South Asian predicament
edited by Imrana Qadeer, Kasturi Sen and K. R. Nayar.
STRUCTURAL adjustment programmes (SAP) as devised by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were introduced in South Asia only in the early nineties. The first phase of these reforms in the health sector produced different effects in the region.

The original Iron Man of India as seen by his daughter
Review by Ashu Pasricha
Inside Story of Sardar Patel: The Diary of Maniben Patel: 1936-50
edited by P. N. Chopra and Prabha Chopra. Vision Books, Delhi. Pages 523. Price Rs 995.
IN recent centuries two events have thrown up a galaxy of talents. The first was when the 13 colonies in America were fighting for their independence. From 1776 to 1783 the USA (as it came to be known later) produced an extraordinary cluster of outstanding men who were the founders of the great republic.

Misunderstood puzzle called post-modernism
Review by Shelley Walia
Postmodern Thought edited
by Stuart Sim. Icon, Cambridge. Pages.401. £14.99
I write this review with the single intention of elucidating this thorny andoften erroneously misunderstood concept of post-modernism essentially for thelay reader of theory. "Postmodern" is the most misunderstood and abused wordin the past decade.

The problem of the pantheon of this ancient land
Review by M. L. Sharma
The Gods of the Hindus
by Om Lata Bahadur. UBS Publishers Distributors, New Delhi. Pages 191+xxviii. Rs 195.
THE pantheism of Hindus is well-known even though there are various sects like Arya Samajis and Radhasoamis who do not believe in gods and goddesses. In the pantheon Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva form the major trio, although there are 33 crores of gods and goddesses worshipped by the Hindus, especially Sanatan dharmis.

Congress, Jinnah and partition sprouts in UP
Review by G.V. Gupta
A Narrative of Communal Politics: Uttar Pradesh 1937-39
by Salil Misra. Sage Publications, New Delhi. Pages 362. Rs 295.
THIS is second volume in the Sage Publications series on modern Indian history. Like the first volume, the editors and the author are all related to JNU. This study relates to an important phase of the independence movement which is regarded by some as decisive in the creation of Pakistan.