Page 12 - Book Reviews

Fall of Biden: A tragic chronicle of ignored warnings and missteps

In his lively, engaging but sometimes frustrating chronicle of the 2024 presidential election campaign, Chris Whipple records the incredulity of one of those at the gathering

Sumana Roy's book traces Bengal writers' empathy with plants, objects

Phloem plays a similar role for Plant Thinkers of Twentieth-Century Bengal

K V Prasad's book explores Parliament's role in shaping foreign policy

K V Prasad's book examines Parliamentary debates on major foreign policy issues in independent India, as well as in the Constituent Assembly, to assess Parliament's role in shaping foreign policy

Exploring caste, Ayurveda, communism via biographies of forgotten rebels

A biography of four individuals who broke new ground in pre-Independence India but later faded into obscurity brings to life their divergent imaginations of Hindi-Hindu nationhood

Non-alignment: Conception versus praxis in Nehru's Cold War legacy

Non-alignment in popular parlance was understood as a foreign policy of rejecting a subordinate ally status in either the ideological and military bloc headed by the US or that led by the Soviet Union

The Beatlemania duet: Ian Leslie's book traces John and Paul's epic journey

Leslie, a British journalist and author, has a deep affection for, and a penetrating understanding of, these complex characters and their unprecedented friendship

The Thinking Machine: Tracing AI's rise from gaming to Nvidia's vision

Huang doesn't offer the author much on how his upbringing may have led to his current status as a technology apex predator

Gujarat's 19 century trailblazer: 'My Truth' revives legacy of Veer Narmad

Narmad was, thus, our very own Samuel Johnson, besides being his own James Boswel as well! The Narmad-Johnson comparison goes deep

'Spies, Lies and Allies' recalls two forgotten pre-Independence stories

Spies, Lies and Allies is more than a biography-it reminds us of two extraordinary lives from the pre-Independence era and why their stories, their mistakes, and their erasure matter

China-Taiwan relationship hinges more on political outlook than territory

Taiwan is no longer just a regional issue-it is now central to the Chinese Communist Party's legitimacy

'GeoTechnoGraphy' book offers cold comfort in the rise of digital tech

From Big Tech's grip on daily life to the rise of new tribalism, the perils of digital technology are all too clear. Samir Saran & Anirban Sarma's book is bound to jolt you from complacency

'Nehru's First Recruits' traces how India's early diplomats shaped policy

Kallol Bhattacherjee attempts to do that by exploring how Indian diplomats were recruited in the 10 or so years after Independence in 1947

'The Mysterious Mr Nakamoto': The tangled story of cryptocurrency's rise

Even in 1999, the notion of a digital currency that bypassed nation-states and financial institutions was not a novel one

'Classical Music of India': A rich resource for connoisseurs and learners

The book is a great resource for music connoisseurs and music lovers as well as anyone who appreciates music and is interested to learn more about it

'The House of Awadh' delves into Begum Wilayat Mahal's hidden world

With intrigue at the heart of it, The House of Awadh unravels the enigmatic life of Begum Wilayat Mahal and her family

Clean lessons in investing, told through crisp and compelling tales

Facts and figures presented in isolation tend to be forgotten quickly. When conveyed through storytelling, they become memorable

'My Head For A Tree' offers rare insight into the Bishnoi way of life

The author has approached the subject with curiosity, rigour and emotional depth

ISID backs MSMEs, startups to drive manufacturing-led Viksit Bharat

While big industry is crucial, ISID's industrial development report advocates strengthening medium and small enterprises and startups to achieve India's 2047 goal

John Green's latest book traces his long journey with tuberculosis

Green is best known for young adult novels like The Fault in Our Stars, a best-selling tear-jerker about two teenage cancer patients

'Living with Birds': Asad Rahmani's memoir captures birding legacy

Rahmani's most significant contribution has been to bring grassland and savannah squarely into the popular conservation discourse