Page 22 - Book Review

The Siege: Ben Macintyre's book recalls a forgotten Iranian hostage crisis

Mr Macintyre's original aim in writing this book was to showcase the brilliance of the SAS in post-war action

A Ravindra's book delves into India's urbanisation challenges and future

With a few exceptions of large slums in megacities such as Mumbai, the poor continue to live on the city fringe-a colonial legacy that persists to this day

Trilochan Sastry's book explores faith, conflict, and search for harmony

How does one find harmony in the discordant notes of a practice that ignites wars and justifies genocide, all in the name of God? That is exactly what this book seeks to explore

Night of Power: Robert Fisk's war stories spotlight victims, perpetrators

Fisk's didactic fury may have kept him going, but it tainted his fidelity as a witness and narrowed his vision

'Iconic Trees of India' explores deep-rooted bond between people and trees

One hopes that Natesh's labour of love will inspire numerous state-sponsored and citizen-led initiatives grounded in science to document and conserve India's green living heritage

Hilal Ahmed's book offers a scrutiny of contemporary Muslim identity

The true value of Hilal Ahmed's book on the condition, plight, choices, and compulsions of Muslims in today's India lies in its refusal to see every issue as either black or white

Nationalism and Hindutva: A new era in Indian politics gets explored

In 2019, Hindutva yielded rich results for the BJP. But why did the nationalism plank produce suboptimal results in 2024?

The Trolls of Wall Street: How tech-savvy retail traders changed markets

In sum, this book provides a fair degree of insight into a new breed of traders, who treat financial markets like any other video-game and crowd-source insights

'The Money Trap': How a surfeit of capital created own troubles at SoftBank

The author paints an elaborate portrait of Masa. At one point the world's richest man, he also held the dubious distinction of having lost the most amount of money until surpassed by Elon Musk

Books give insights into possible role of Russia in the US elections

Steele's book, however, isn't a guide to election hacking in 2024. The picture of that campaign is only just emerging

'The Lucky Ones' captures the intersection of the personal and political

A book about an event from over two decades ago that exposed our darkest instincts serves as a reminder not to let ourselves fall so low again

1965 Indo-Pak war: A Soldier's perspective on lessons for future conflicts

India's next war could be fought on two fronts, with a collusion between Pakistan and China, warns Major General Ian Cardozo, drawing on logic, past experience, and evolving geopolitical reality

'The Identity Project' explains multiple fault lines of India's democracy

Can India, as a democracy, progress without reverting to the fragile, papered-over secularism of the past? Rahul Bhatia explores this question in his book

'Behold the Leviathan' is a hopeful narrative of India's potential

Increasing women's workforce participation, the rise of a new class of elites without IIT-IIM education, and the JAM trinity are key socio-economic changes driving optimistic projections for India

Inside Joe Biden's 'war' room: Heads of state and heads of hair

In War, Biden's presidency is defined - at times threatened and, in Woodward's frankly stated opinion, ultimately vindicated - by how he handles Ukraine and West Asia

Exploring Irawati Karve's life in Iru: An anthropologist ahead of her time

This extensively researched biography reads like a novel, without academic jargon, that sucks readers into its smoothly flowing narration

Vartul Singh's book explores Banaras beyond tourist sites and snapshots

Many things about Banaras remain unknown to tourists that only a Banarasi understands, as the city is their home, not merely an Instagram backdrop. Vartul Singh's book highlights this aspect

A Body Made of Glass: How health anxiety, hypochondria evolved over time

Caroline Crampton's A Body Made of Glass delves into hypochondria's history, revealing its shifting perceptions from ancient to modern times

The Fifteen: How diverse women united to shape free India's Constitution

At a time when the Uniform Civil Code is being widely discussed, the book explores what the women in the Constituent Assembly thought of the idea

Sky High explores IndiGo's unique approach and its future path

What keeps one going through the pages of this book is its racy style, quite like a reporter's diary with anecdotes seen and heard