Page 4 - Book Reviews
The silent enemy redefines security for a world beyond the battlefield
A timely book by Arvind Gupta and Rajesh Singh expands the idea of national security beyond the military to include climate, technology, and economic vulnerabilities
 "The silent enemy redefines security for a world beyond the battlefield")
When Everyone Knows: Pinker unpacks the power of shared understanding
Dr Pinker introduces another important concept, conventions, in elaborating how common knowledge works
 "When Everyone Knows: Pinker unpacks the power of shared understanding")
A Sixth of Humanity: India's journey between democracy and economic growth
This narrative about India's development is described as an odyssey, perhaps because of the policy shortfalls and mishaps in the development voyage
 "A Sixth of Humanity: India's journey between democracy and economic growth")
Let My Country Awake: Miller's book omits nuances of the Ghadar movement
As Scott Miller writes in Let My Country Awake, the story of the anticolonial Ghadar movement, Indian migrant workers soon found themselves attracted to radical labour organisations
 "Let My Country Awake: Miller's book omits nuances of the Ghadar movement")
The Maker of Filmmakers: How Jagat Murari shaped filmmaking culture
The book is a compelling study of FTII's early years, revealing how great institutions can decay over time due to mismanagement and the failures of those entrusted to protect them
 "The Maker of Filmmakers: How Jagat Murari shaped filmmaking culture")
Waste Wars: How rich nations legally dump toxic waste on poor countries
How the rich world exploits loopholes to legally dump toxic waste on poor nations in Asia, Africa and South America
 "Waste Wars: How rich nations legally dump toxic waste on poor countries")
After the Spike: A bold argument for rethinking the demographic doom theory
Why a larger population is better than a smaller population with a higher quality of life
 "After the Spike: A bold argument for rethinking the demographic doom theory")
The Shortest History of AI: How the world came to love and fear it
The world has become firmly divided into two camps. One side believes that AI will solve almost all our problems pretty soon. The other worries about the emerging dangers
 "The Shortest History of AI: How the world came to love and fear it")
Wut's in a word? A new book spells out the threats to the dictionary
Fatsis provides an excellent primer on Merriam-Webster's role in the culture wars, with thorough accounts of the dictionary's approach to the N-word, the F-word, "Covid-19" and "woke"
 "Wut's in a word? A new book spells out the threats to the dictionary")
Lo Bir Sendra: Jaipal Singh's memoir speaks of an Adivasi in two worlds
If the text sometimes feels disjointed, it is, perhaps, because Singh was not writing for publication but to remember
 "Lo Bir Sendra: Jaipal Singh's memoir speaks of an Adivasi in two worlds")
The peacemaker the world forgot: U Thant's UN and the Cold War's edge
How a self-effacing, self-taught school headmaster from a small Burmese village became one of the most influential figures at the UN in the 1960s
 "The peacemaker the world forgot: U Thant's UN and the Cold War's edge")
Retain the Human Edge in an AI Age: Master the art of learning to learn
How mastering the art of learning to learn will determine your success in the AI age
 "Retain the Human Edge in an AI Age: Master the art of learning to learn")
How ordinary Indians shaped the making of the Constitution
The book under review is a most refreshing departure from this pattern. It discusses how people at large participated in what it correctly calls the assembling of the Constitution
 "How ordinary Indians shaped the making of the Constitution")
Devils' Advocates: Is American foreign policy genuinely for sale?
Vogel traces the alarm over foreign lobbying to a well-known scandal from the 1930s in which some of America's top public relations men were charged
 "Devils' Advocates: Is American foreign policy genuinely for sale?")
On the Brink of Belief: A book on gender, religion, and the margins
A new anthology brings together 24 queer and trans writers from South Asia exploring faith, identity, and belonging under the editorship of poet Kazim Ali
 "On the Brink of Belief: A book on gender, religion, and the margins")
Mother Mary Comes To Me: The book goes beyond the mother-daughter sob story
Ms Roy's radical and radiant life is the subject of the book but the messaging around it has flattened a complex narrative into a sob story of a daughter wronged by her mother
 "Mother Mary Comes To Me: The book goes beyond the mother-daughter sob story")
Wall Street's original sin: Sorkin revisits the greed and glamour of 1929
Over the course of more than 400 pages, tha author narrates a fable of greed, corruption and incompetence to shock the conscience
 "Wall Street's original sin: Sorkin revisits the greed and glamour of 1929")
On the Margins of Protection: How refugee rights are being redefined
With right-wing populism on the rise, refugee protection is seen as a problem. This book examines how protection works across contexts, shaped by history and geopolitics
 "On the Margins of Protection: How refugee rights are being redefined")
The Dravidian Pathway: Book traces evolution of Tamil identity and politics
This deeply researched book seeks to answer these questions, unravelling methodological challenges and dissecting the various components that go into the making of identity
 "The Dravidian Pathway: Book traces evolution of Tamil identity and politics")
Splendid Liberators: How America replaced Spain as the world's great power
Joe Jackson's Splendid Liberators unpacks the brutal realities and far-reaching impact of the Spanish-American War, challenging the myth of a "splendid little war"
 "Splendid Liberators: How America replaced Spain as the world's great power")