Page 41 - Book Reviews

Betting on a high-stakes life

William Walter, who rose from a tumultuous past of poverty, addiction and gambling to become a multi-millionaire, could, at best, be a statistical anomaly

PEs as villains

While private equity bosses may have negatively impacted numerous companies and lives, is a black-and-white portrayal with no shades of grey justified?

Bankman-Fried: From crypto hero to zero

The profusion of exclamation points is a tipoff that Lewis is at least somewhat aware how dumb such optimism looks in retrospect - especially now that Bankman-Fried's trial on fraud charges has begun

A 'search' for Ashoka

Olivelle has written a thought-provoking book. He has scrupulously avoided the hagiographic sources about Ashoka because he feels they contain too many uncertainties

The Constitution: An imperfect charter

Colonial or otherwise, our Constitution requires more than just tinkering to align it with ground reality

A practitioner's guide to elections

Former Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi is honest and unreservedly generous in his book, which does not shy away from identifying the biggest threat to free and fair elections India

How China moulds the world

It is shaping a world order where its core interests and its ideas of human rights gain widespread accepted

An insider's tell-all tales

In his revealing memoir, former finance secretary Subhash Chandra Garg offers a glimpse into what goes on behind closed-door meetings and in the corridors of power

Pioneering the data broker industry

Asher had an abusive childhood, treated women in his life poorly, was prone to dark moods and explosive management, and had a highly gifted technical mind

Nature's art of living

A former business journalist discovers the art of happiness in the natural world

The historical fibre of silk

Aarathi Prasad's book unspools the intricate threads of silk's story, tracing its journey from silkworms and spider silk to emperors' wardrobes

Why policies fail

Policymaking is not an easy job, and State Capability in India sheds light on the complexities of this task

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