Book Reviews & Features

January 29, 2023, Sunday

Early globalisation and its discontents

"Globalisation," as we call it today, was never universally beneficial or beloved, and underneath it coursed a growing discontent
January 26, 2023, Thursday

RSS: A worm's eye view

Devanura Mahadeva's book takes a critical look at the RSS and helps readers comprehend the founding principles of the ...
January 24, 2023, Tuesday

Putin's war machine

A military operation that was to last 10 days is now closing in on a year. Mark Galeotti's rigorous book offers a real-time ...
January 22, 2023, Sunday

Exploited in America

The book starts with love stories that introduce us to some of the men and explain why they're so desperate for work
January 18, 2023, Wednesday

Quitting can be good for you

Human beings find it hard to quit, but life is too short to be wasted on endeavours not worth sticking to. Annie Duke's book ...
January 16, 2023, Monday

A spook reminisces

In a country full of self-styled Kashmir and Pakistan experts, former R&AW chief A S Dulat's memoir can genuinely claim to be an ...
January 12, 2023, Thursday

The Emperor syndrome

Dominic Lieven's 'In the Shadow of the Gods' presents a breath-taking cavalcade of larger-than-life characters, many of whom have ...
January 10, 2023, Tuesday

The Raja of Big Things

An eminently readable book by Carnatic music-loving corporate honcho, Kamini Dandapani, delves into the life and influence of ...
January 08, 2023, Sunday

A culinary tour of the Chinese diaspora

From the Arctic to Africa to the Amazon, perseverance, economic pragmatism and resourcefulness bind the lives of Chinese ...
January 05, 2023, Thursday

Layers in the hijab debate

The hijab has many layers. A collection of 17 essays, mostly from India and with some from Bangladesh and Iran, attempts to ...
January 03, 2023, Tuesday

A minority report

In its lucidly written detail, Half American is a valuable and eye-opening social history of the second World War from a uniquely ...
December 29, 2022, Thursday

Mind the North-South gap

Nilakantan RS' book explores the multidimensional gap between the two halves of India
December 27, 2022, Tuesday

Lines of control

We the People of the States of Bharat offers an excellent account of the considerations that have given the country its present ...
December 25, 2022, Sunday

From pest to ecosystem engineer

The writer Leila Philip adds to a genre of pro-beaver literature that turns out to be more populous than most of us may have
December 22, 2022, Thursday

Line of duty

Mr Raza is an author, consultant, and poetry aficionado who continues to write and work even in his eighties
December 20, 2022, Tuesday

A closer look at 'quiet diplomacy'

At a broader level Rahul Roy Chaudhary extols the UPA's role in projecting India as a significant player in a multipolar world, ...
December 18, 2022, Sunday

A book of cheeky obituaries

The obit goes on to say that his friends loved Mountgarret, because he was an entertaining character
December 15, 2022, Thursday

Colonial crime and punishment

Sunil Nair's collection of stories about crime in pre-independence India is a collage of micro pictures that takes us into the ...
December 13, 2022, Tuesday

The gas-coal riddle

Former coal secretary Anil Kumar Jain's book makes a strong case for using coal until renewable energy becomes ubiquitous in
December 08, 2022, Thursday

Thought experiments about the human condition

Neil deGrasse Tyson's collection of essays challenges common assumptions through counterfactual data and provocative thought ...

January 27, 2023, Friday

A robust brew

Author shows how the history of coffee is intertwined with histories of colonisation, indentured labour, war, migration, and ...
January 25, 2023, Wednesday

Model mistakes

Mathematical modelling is an indispensable analytical tool, but not always accurate. Erica Thompson's book takes a nuanced look ...
January 23, 2023, Monday

Laws and the green movement

When it comes to our environment, laws and policies have accomplished little by way of success. Environmental Law and Policy in ...
January 19, 2023, Thursday

The nation as a 'continuous conversation'

Through a series of essays, Rajeev Bhargava reflects on our times, what is good and bad, right and wrong. His book is a treatise ...
January 17, 2023, Tuesday

Saving Asia from stalling growth

Asia might not reach its full growth potential, argue the authors of The Connections World, thanks to the nexus between the state ...
January 15, 2023, Sunday

Life and much death in the Amazon

In "Masters of the Lost Land," Heriberto Araujo investigates a region where land and people are routinely sacrificed to greed and ...
January 11, 2023, Wednesday

Living the life, energy efficiently

For those looking to live a cleaner and greener life, Energy Efficiency Matters is a ready reckoner offering easy practical steps ...
January 09, 2023, Monday

India's tryst with parliamentary democracy

At a time when Parliament is about to be relocated to a new building, 'House of the People' offers an insightful look into the ...
January 06, 2023, Friday

Late swing

Wasim Akram's readable memoir reveals little that is new while strengthening the myths of old
January 04, 2023, Wednesday

Taming the dragon

Getting China Wrong is a succinct analysis of US policies towards China, what motivated them and how they failed. Besides ...
January 01, 2023, Sunday

The art of 'achieving' humility

In Praise of Failure is maddening, disturbing, exasperating, seductive
December 28, 2022, Wednesday

Bitter medicine for pharma regulation

The Gambian tragedy has raised uncomfortable questions about drug regulation in India. The Truth Pill is a depressing but ...
December 26, 2022, Monday

'Insurgent' justice

Human rights activist and lawyer K G Kannabiran's memoir, translated into English from Telugu by his daughter, is a book worth ...
December 23, 2022, Friday

Harappa between the lines

Nikhil Gulati and Jonathan Mark Kenoyer provide a clean but unconventional look at history
December 21, 2022, Wednesday

Pure maths and the natural world

The book adheres closely to the popular science principle Stephen Hawking articulated in avoiding equations and formulae in A ...
December 19, 2022, Monday

India in the nitty-gritty

Former Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar's memoir is a remarkable account of the many events that took place during his tenure, ...
December 16, 2022, Friday

Anglo Indians beyond the stereotypes

In case you thought that this is a dry historic tome, perish the thought!
December 14, 2022, Wednesday

Reinventing social democracy

There is a growing disenchantment with liberal democracies. In 'A World of Insecurity', Economist Pranab Bardhan situates its ...
December 11, 2022, Sunday

History of Hollywood

On-set stories, technical details, funny anecdotes about actors, the echoes of studio executives kvetching and various people ...
December 07, 2022, Wednesday

Controversy in high places

"Flying Lies" dives into practically every dimension of the Rafale deal, producing an invaluable treatise on defence procurement ...