Page 20 - Book Reviews

Vartul Singh's book explores Banaras beyond tourist sites and snapshots

Many things about Banaras remain unknown to tourists that only a Banarasi understands, as the city is their home, not merely an Instagram backdrop. Vartul Singh's book highlights this aspect

A Body Made of Glass: How health anxiety, hypochondria evolved over time

Caroline Crampton's A Body Made of Glass delves into hypochondria's history, revealing its shifting perceptions from ancient to modern times

The Fifteen: How diverse women united to shape free India's Constitution

At a time when the Uniform Civil Code is being widely discussed, the book explores what the women in the Constituent Assembly thought of the idea

Sky High explores IndiGo's unique approach and its future path

What keeps one going through the pages of this book is its racy style, quite like a reporter's diary with anecdotes seen and heard

Melania Trump: Modelling, motherhood and a brazen whitewash of a presidency

If there's a plain truth in Melania, it's that she loves her son, Barron, and will protect him at all costs; and sincerely cares for imperilled children

Dilip Sinha's book explores how Tibet became an abandoned kingdom in exile

This must-read book minces no words about what is to come

Book Review: Balancing India's strategic goals with development assistance

India's Development Partnership makes a case for broadening the scope of such assistance beyond a government-to-government approach to include the private sector and civil society

'Law and the Economy in India' explores rationale behind key regulations

The depth of discussion on the economic linkages and laws are not examined in as much detail to justify the use of the noun "Economy" in the title

Revenge of the Tipping Point: Gladwell plays it safe with a familiar brand

Revenge of the Tipping Point is a genre-bender--self-help without practical advice and a business book without actionable insights, yet it's sure to be a success

Arvind Panagariya's book explores Jawaharlal Nehru's long economic shadow

On why Nehru's long economic shadow sustained till 1991 - nearly three decades after his passing - the author points to the near continuous, political domination of the Nehru family

Rick Stroud's book showcases eight women's World War I resistance roles

These women came from widely differing backgrounds - the Belgian aristocracy, nurses, governesses, housewives and shop girls

Rotem Geva's new book traces Delhi's journey through Partition and beyond

The book traces how the city's growth and "birth" of New Delhi triggered the decline of the Muslim aristocracy, which began with British takeover after 1857

Unit X explores US military's shift to Silicon Valley tech for defence

Unit X offers a fascinating account of America's efforts to stay ahead in a rapidly shifting geopolitical landscape

'The Palestinian Laboratory' explores key issues in Israel-Gaza conflict

The book seeks to answer a crucial question: Why does violence against Palestinians fail to elicit meaningful empathy from powerful nations?

Is Bill Gates a hero or villain? New book presents a balanced perspective

There is no shortage of books on the Microsoft founder, but this latest one is different in that it paints Mr Gates in shades of grey, leaving it to readers to make their own judgement about the man

Snyder's on freedom: A call to action amidst global tyranny and conflict

Again and again, his book returns - as Snyder has done himself - to Ukraine, where he sees the conflict between freedom and unfreedom in brutally vivid form

Wendy Doniger's new book explores untold stories from the Mahabharata

The only quibble one has with the book is that the translations seem a bit hasty and laboured

Potrait of a German refugee who became key to India's artistic awakening

Reema Desai's book shows political cartoonist Rudolf Von Leyden championing the works of Krishnaji Howlaji Ara, M F Husain and others much before they became legendary on the international art circuit

Kulpreet Yadav's Haji Pir recounts soldiers' bravery in key 1965 war battle

A book on the Haji Pir battle would be incomplete without mentioning the Tashkent agreement. The author refers to it upfront

Kara Swisher's memoir offers vivid, unflattering sketches of tech moguls

The book is well written and the author has managed to take the reader on an entertaining gallop across the tech landscape