Page 50 - Book Reviews

History of Hollywood

On-set stories, technical details, funny anecdotes about actors, the echoes of studio executives kvetching and various people complaining about critics

Thought experiments about the human condition

Neil deGrasse Tyson's collection of essays challenges common assumptions through counterfactual data and provocative thought experiments, leaving even the most informed readers much to chew on

Controversy in high places

"Flying Lies" dives into practically every dimension of the Rafale deal, producing an invaluable treatise on defence procurement in the process

Janet Yellen: For the people

Two recent biographies offer insights into the life and work of the US Treasury Secretary. One is a tad more absorbing than the other

The shifting local language mediascape

Mrinal Pande's books offers a bird's-eye view of India's language mediascape, its heft and business potential

On a wing and a prayer

Among the many virtues of John Lancaster's delightful The Great Air Race is how vividly it conveys the entirely different world of aviation at the dawn of the industry a century ago

The freewheelin' Bob Dylan

His book about pop songs is a strange, slightly self-indulgent romp through songs that have been selected with no particular theme in mind

Case studies on the Indian economy

Saurabh Kirpal's book is a useful guide to understanding the turns and twists of India's economic policy-making - from a relatively free enterprise environment to socialism to economic liberalisation

Making economics palatable

In Edible Economics, Ha-Joon Chang takes a global approach to food to deliver a stinging critique of the neoclassical order

Battlegrounds in the global AI war

A revolution is underway in several aspects of our life. "When AI Rules the World" details these groundbreaking changes

Handling workplace conflicts

Amy Gallo's book offers hope to those in a toxic work environment. She argues oscillating between suffering in silence and lashing out in anger in not their only option

Hoover: Bravery and black bag jobs

As the Yale historian Beverly Gage makes abundantly clear in G-Man, her revelatory new biography of Hoover, all of this is true

Interpreter of languages

It is a contemplative collection of essays examining her own experience with translation, and her identity as a translator

McKinsey: A profile in amorality

When McKinsey is held to account, the blame is invariably taken by the partners engaged in that transaction

Ambedkar in his labyrinth

In Ambedkar: A Life, a comparatively short biography of the leader, Shashi Tharoor nails the pretentious nature of Ambedkar's appropriation by many

The worldly philosophers

David Runciman's timely book examines the views of a dozen philosophers on the subject of state power: On what principles does the state enjoy power over its citizens and what limits its control?

The brand is 'you'

In All the world's a stage, Ambi Parameswaran mines the rich cache of insights and anecdotes gathered over a long career in marketing and advertising to help you build your personal brand

To catch a crypto-criminal

Greenberg deftly assembles a rogues' gallery of characters who fell prey to this false sense of invulnerability: drug marketers, thick-necked federal agents, globe-trotting libertarians

A portrait of Gautambhai

The emergence of the house of Adani is both unusual and remarkable. A new biography of the business tycoon attempts to lay bare the secrets behind his stupendous trajectory, but leaves many questions

A viral message in the Moderna story

In The Messenger, The Wall Street Journal reporter Peter Loftus charts the journey of Moderna from being a languishing biotech start-up to one of the biggest financial beneficiaries of the pandemic