Page 38 - Book Reviews

The potential and limitations of fintech

Fintech for Billions strikes a nerve among digital evangelists but leaves doubts about the viability of its proposed solutions

The nature of things

In the midst of 21st-century India's relentless pursuit of growth, A Walk up the Hill offers an enjoyable and enlightening perspective

China's 'unauthorised past'

Johnson's book takes its title from Spark, a journal cobbled together in 1960 by a band of exiled university students who had been sent to the same labour camp in the late 1950s

House of the rising son

Stalin's autobiography sheds light on his upbringing, his admiration for his father, family dynamics, and foretells the political struggle Tamil Nadu will see in the coming days

Big brand theories from India

Booming Brands is one of those rare books that leave you inspired to start your own journey, or apply some of the lessons to your business

Management adages vs contextual reality

At the heart of Busted lies a profound truth that dismantles the long-held shibboleths of management

Assam's unsettled legacy

In the decades since Independence, Assam's relationship with India, its neighbouring regions, and its political dynamics has been shaped by the enduring aftermath of World War II

The Luddites of Big Tech

Merchant is keen to reframe the Luddites as proto-unionist reformers rather than violent revolutionaries

The personal cost of war journalism

Originally published as a shorter piece in Granta under the title, "A place on earth: Scenes from a war", Sundaram's reportage won the 2015 Frontline Club Award

Ordinary intellectuals

Amit Chaudhuri's book explores the role of organic intellectuals in shaping India's contemporary narrative of resistance and reason

A painful addiction to wealth

While the opioid epidemic in the US is well-known, Hard Sell sheds light on the lesser-known role of Indian-origin entrepreneur John Kapoor in exacerbating this crisis

A 'Make in India' achievement

A quiet revolution is underway in India that could upend the notion that Indians are tech adopters, not innovators

Waste beyond the tipping point

Most of us try not to think about garbage, even though it's in your face in any Indian city. Journalist Oliver Franklin-Wallis's eloquently written book is a wake-up call for our indifference

The elusive nature of reality

Egginton gestures at connections between the work of Heisenberg, Kant and Borges, between physics and metaphysics, fiction and fact

The problem with index funds

The dominance of index funds could be stifling price competition, compounded by the concentration of power among a few giants in fund-management and private-equity

The write side of history

A book that takes readers on a guided tour of some of the world's oldest and most mysterious scripts

India's place in the new world order

Ambassador Sujan Chinoy's book explores why strengthening the existing multilateral order is crucial, not only for containing China, but also for minimising superpowers' exceptionalism

New complexities in Dalit assertion

A thoughtfully put-together volume illuminates the gamut of current struggles and tensions in Dalit politics, encompassing discrimination, representation, as well as their aspirations and anxieties

The 'mercurial man child'

Yet even as Musk struggles to relate to the actual humans around him, his plans for humanity are grand

Rethinking India's past

How and where does one begin to understand this history?