Book Reviews

An epic attempt at data gathering

Using data to control people is nothing new. A digital humanities professor attempts to show how data has been used from pre-history to modern times to control empires

Indian democracy in brick and mortar

The story of how the Indian Parliament was built after the capital moved from Calcutta to Delhi is a riveting account of a building that radiated power, and later became the centre of Indian democracy

Helpful boundaries for productivity

Do humans perform better when forced to work within constraints? Blending anecdotes with personal experience, this book sets out to answer the question

Canada: More than America's polite neighbour

Canadians happen to know plenty about the United States; with its comparatively tiny population of 41 million, Canada has long paid close attention to its hulking neighbour as a matter of necessity

Diplomacy and souffles on the Prime Minister's table via India's history

The book has all the right ingredients, from simple comfort foods to regional specialities, it explores the intersection of culinary tradition, politics and post-Independence history

Hard calculations on Tiktok's soft power

How Tiktok's influence among younger Americans can become a tool in the hands of the Chinese state to manipulate US elections Gunjan Singh

Storytelling for the corporate world

The book is riding the current boom on publications that teach us boring corporate types the benefits of telling a story

Migrants on the margins

From climate change to survival and resilience, a story of a family in Kolkata weaves together many aspects of migration

The cutting edge of governance

From 2G spectrum allocation to India staying out of RCEP, a former bureaucrat provides a peek into the inner functioning and decision-making processes behind key incidents

The rise and fall of an Epstein financier

In Money to Burn, the journalist William D Cohan offers a detailed account of Black's rise and fall

1873: A great deflation, not quite the making of the modern world

Within the narrower canvas of the origins of the 1873 financial crash and its consequences, Ahamed tells a gripping tale

Brics: Non-West vs Anti-West

Can the ragtag grouping of emerging economies still drive the shift towards a more multipolar world? This book explores that and much more

Countering disinformation

This book is a compelling account of how India lives online, and what we can do - to make it a more dignified and inclusive space

India's sub-optimal industrial policy

From gender bias and employment to equal pay, this book traces various policy developments and the lessons they hold for policymakers today

Hospitality, by night and day

Former ITC executive Nakul Anand's book unpacks every aspect of the service industry, giving us the behind-the-scenes story of its iconic restaurant brands, Dum Pukht and Bukhara

US' failing wars on terror

The development of advanced weaponised drones facilitated the killing of Qaeda leaders at long range and with little risk

The Everest Mystery: Remembering the climber lost in the clouds

Sandy Irvine probably never reached Everest's summit, but he greeted its deadly slopes with a smile

The hidden complexities of daily life

From stories about Indian cricket to undersea cables that bring us the internet, a collection of essays uncovers the hidden systems and unseen connections that shape our interconnected lives

The art of judgement by stealth

The new edition makes the exercise more interesting because Mr Parameswaran has added the decade from 2015 to 2025

The silent takeover of India's health care

The Silent Syndicate examines how private equity and global finance are reshaping India's healthcare system, raising questions over ownership, regulation and patient welfare