Biography

A History of Santiniketan: A university against national chauvinism

Uma Das Gupta's history of Santiniketan traces Tagore's educational vision, the making of Vishva-Bharati, and the challenges that shaped his alternative to nationalist orthodoxy

Mind in Motion: A biography of Francis Crick balances his life with science

A balanced yet probing biography traces Francis Crick's brilliant scientific leaps and human flaws, revealing the mind behind DNA's discovery without fully interrogating his more troubling ideas

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

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"

Believer's Dilemma: A leader's struggle with power and self-doubt

A new biography unravels Atal Bihari Vajpayee's complex persona, tracing his political journey, inner conflicts, and role in shaping modern Indian politics

Victoria Woodhull: A tale of America's first female presidential candidate

Victoria Woodhull's improbable life - from clairvoyant to Wall Street broker to presidential candidate - is retold in Eden Collinsworth's witty new biography

Susim Mukul Datta: Fountain of youth who left a lasting imprint on HLL

This piece is not an elegy or an obituary. It is an intimate portrait of one of India's highly accomplished leaders

Luis Alvarez deserved a livelier biography than Collisions offers

Nevala-Lee recounts succession of events that followed: degrees from University of Chicago and a long, illustrious career, most of it at Berkeley. Alvarez was ambitious, arrogant and often prickly

Ratan Tata's 'no comments' on Mistry more thunderous than statement: Author

Ratan Tata's 'no comments' was more 'thunderous' than any statement when asked if he shared the apprehensions of some Tata group veterans who felt that Cyrus Mistry was trying to break up the conglomerate, according to the author of biography of the late industrialist, Thomas Mathew. Tata had fully supported late Mistry as his successor in 2012, despite having second thoughts over the suitability of the latter at the end of the first year of 'parallel running' as Chairman designate and his replacement as Chairman of Tata Sons in 2016 was due to "an ethical and a moral issue", coupled with performance issue, Mathew told PTI Video in an interview. In the biography 'Ratan Tata A Life', some Tata group veterans have been quoted airing their apprehensions about Mistry trying to break up the salt-to-software conglomerate based on his style of functioning as the Chairman and the past record of the Shaprooji Pallonji (SP) Group's acquisition of shares in Tata Sons. "There are two schools of

Seven Indian-origin authors feature in NYT's 100 Notable Books of 2023 list

The list of 100 notable books of 2023 includes seven books written by Indian-origin writers, including Salman Rushdie and Pico Iyer

Parag Agrawal: Not the fire-breathing dragon Twitter needed, said Elon Musk

Walter Isaacson's biography reveals key insights into Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter and subsequent firing of top execs, including CEO Parag Agrawal

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

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

Behind the good wife

Gandhi's great-grandson recreates Kasturba's life from her diary and presents a woman bound by a patriarchal society but hardly a doormat

R N Bhaskar's biography on Gautam Adani to hit the stands in October

Written by journalist-author RN Bhaskar, "Gautam Adani: The Man Who Changed India", claims to bring to light, for the first time, the unknown aspects of one of the richest men in the world

The life and times of Ratan Tata: An authorised tell-all book in November

HarperCollins wins publishing rights for industrialist's biography in a reported Rs 2 crore deal

The power of compassion

A memorable volume that places Ardern in her own local and national context for international readers

Biographies and bias

A biographer can never get it even half-right. I mean, the facts may well all be there. But the truth? Now that's a different thing altogether

Balraj Sahni, the man and the actor, through the eyes of his son Parikshat

Actor Balraj Sahni's work in theatre and films was often informed by his political and personal struggles, his son and biographer Parikshat Sahni tells Ranjita Ganesan

Evan Thomas' biography of Sandra Day O'Connor sums up an overachiever

The O'Connors' marriage is at the heart of this biography