Book Reviews

Lt Gen Kamal Davar (Retd) History down the ages and right across the world generally suffers from innumerable voids in its compilation of empires, personalities and events. Regrettably, there are, at times, attempts to distort history, though truth has an...

Manu Moudgil Throughout history, there have been individuals known for their conquests, wealth and knowledge. Often, they leave behind a legacy of pain, exploitation, and arrogance. In contrast, there are those who take a different path. These people may...

Manisha Gangahar Compellingly provocative, strikingly incisive, sharp witted and ironical, ‘Mother India’ does a daunting task — it critiques. The novel, through a gripping account of two young people’s lives in urban Delhi, delves into the world of constructing reality...

Nonika Singh Kamal Haasan’s latest offering, ‘Hindustani 2’, may have disappointed critics and audiences alike, but who can dispute the superstar filmmaker’s commanding position in Indian cinema. Surmising an actor of over 260 films in 250-odd pages is an onerous...

The political discourse in India today swings between two contrary positions on the issue of Muslims. Hindutva politics categorises Muslims as a monolithic religious group to substantiate Hindu homogeneity and the liberals claim to protect Muslims as a religious minority...

Maninder Sidhu “…another cell in the university beehive.”— Jacques Derrida Women’s Studies Centres (WSCs), the first of its kind founded by the sociologist Neera Desai, not long after the inauguration of the field at Cornell University in 1969, rose to...

It is generally assumed that Indian democracy has had an unbroken run since Independence, with the brief disruption of the 1975–77 Emergency. In ‘The Republic Relearnt’, Radha Kumar challenges this belief. She points out that Indian democracy had been repeatedly...

Roopinder Singh Guru Nanak’s message is accessible through his bani, or his compositions. What Guru Nanak said was profound, direct and it transformed the socio-religious landscape, not only of the land of his birth, but far beyond. Indeed, now Sikhs...

Ajaz Ashraf ‘I was raped collectively — by the entire Congress government. All of them, including the Prime Minister, President, Home Minister and, in fact, everyone in this country who failed to protect us,” Satwant Kaur told Sanam Sutirath Wazir,...

Tamil author Ambai’s famed detective character Sudha Gupta travels to Mumbai to solve mysteries that meld suspense and intrigue with social commentary. ‘A Room Measuring 250 Square Feet’ tackles taboos and secrets. ‘The Death of a Sarus Crane’ explores privilege...

Jitesh Malik Compiled and edited by Lakshmi Swaminathan, ‘A Call To Return, A Journey with Didi Contractor’ presents an intimate journey of a soul, a beautiful mind, in search of deep connections between the higher realms and the material manifestation....

Lallan Baghel Meera Nanda’s ‘A Field Guide to Post-Truth India’ is a fascinating book that touches upon a critically important theme — the existing crisis of truth, science and knowledge and its newer manifestations in the form of post-truth culture....

Ira Pande The title of the book is both evocative and mysterious: is this a personal memoir of one of our most admired public activists, or a political statement of sorts? Before I go any further, let me put in...

Laxmi Panda: The Story of Netaji’s Youngest Spyby Savie Karnel.Westland. Pages 221. Rs 350 From daring escapes to heart-pounding encounters, Laxmi’s missions are fraught with danger and uncertainty. Netaji’s youngest spy, she lost both her parents, railroad workers, in a...

Salil Misra The struggle against the mighty British imperialism had a certain grandeur about it. One important part of it was the great range of ways in which this struggle was fought. Many distinguished individuals from Maharashtra, Bengal and North...

Avay Shukla This book is a well-deserved tribute to perhaps the most recognisable group in the community of mountain climbers, but about whom next to nothing is known apart from their climbing exploits. The Sherpas are almost synonymous with the...

‘A House of Words’ is an apt festschrift. It is a gathering of intelligent people raising a toast to Keki N Daruwalla

Food historian and critic Pushpesh Pant is back with yet another book on Indian foods and recipes. ‘Lazzatnama’ is a cuisine-based chronicle of the diverse culinary landscape of the country. The book, divided into nearly 25 sections such as rice,...

Geetu Vaid Living in a world where online scams, frauds and political corruption are painfully common, one may underrate a more than five decades old case of Rs 60-lakh fraud committed on the country’s biggest bank by a caller...