Page 93 - Book Reviews

Sunil Kant Munjal recounts his father and uncles' journey of building Hero

The Munjal brothers knew bicycles. They did not have any capital, but possessed the technical knowledge and skills to make their mark in the rapidly growing bicycle industry, he writes

Leaves from history: Auction of texts dating back to the freedom struggle

An unusual online auction will allow us to understand the creation of our country at source

Jairam Ramesh's book on VK Krishna Menon humanises the villain of 1962

The book offers a balanced and wide-ranging account of V K Krishna Menon, Nehru's controversial and irascible defence minister, taking in his role as freedom fighter, leftist politician, and visionary

India's higher learning curve

The author, Ajantha Subramanian, is a professor of anthropology at Harvard University, and brings an anthropologist's perspective to many issues

Ascent of a techno-sceptic

Is it weird that a CEO can be considered up-and-coming? Yes, but of course everything about the new nearly normal is weird

A fascinating history of the Cartier family, fabled Parisian jewellers

A fascinating account of the fabled Parisian jewellers recounted by the founder's descendant offers an in-depth study of how to run a durable family business

Technology and government

The copious research by the author is packaged and presented through interesting stories, events and anecdotes, devoid of dense technology jargon

The supreme ideal

Mr Sengupta devotes a large part of this 300-page book on the complexity of the process of selection of judges and how the constitution benches attempted to settle the issues unsatisfactorily

Bridges to Kabul

The book is cyclical - the last chapter of the book is called "Returns", like the first one

Supreme gossip

With recent developments highlighting the role of Chief Justice of India vis-a-vis his brethren, the chapter titled 'The Fictional Concurrence of the Chief Justice' is interesting

Essential books to read for understanding inner world of court judges

The battle between the government and the judiciary has been going on for centuries

Confronting an existential crisis

Her brave attempt to work up enthusiasm for madrasas was ultimately frustrated by the reality she encountered on the ground

Language and power

The scope of Don't Believe a Word is impressive. It pauses to consider what modes of communication can tell us about the working of the brain, its role in communal violence in India

How UTI crisis unfolded: Former Sebi chairman UK Sinha revists the drama

The decision to stop the encashment of US-64 unit was a step that shocked investors and the entire capital market. Former SEBI chairman U K Sinha revisits the drama in his new book

Cambridge Analytica whistleblower offers the seamy side of social media

The question that remains, however, is this: Is the state a trustworthy regulator?

India from the archives

The author's commentary is minimal and designed to guide rather than influence.

The business of eating out

Her book offers a glimpse of the turbulent careers of a handful of successful contemporary restaurateurs such as A D Singh, Riyaaz Amlani and Rahul Akerkar.

Memoirs of a turnaround artist

The threat to Nasdaq came from start-ups called Electronic Communications Networks (ECNs), which were providing an alternative virtual platform for stock trading.

Sun Tzu redux

Nylan's translation of The Art of War, however, is marvellously pointy and plainspoken. Each sentence is a struck match

Toolkit for policy-makers

The book was originally supposed to be a monograph, based on the C D Deshmukh Memorial Lecture Mr Kelkar had delivered in January 2017