Page 4 - Book

38 Londres Street: The case of Augusto Pinochet and the art of impunity

Impunity is the central theme of 38 Londres Street, a marvellous and absorbing new book by the British-French lawyer and author Philippe Sands

SC dismisses plea seeking ban on Salman Rushdie's book 'The Satanic Verses'

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea seeking a direction to ban Salman Rushdie's controversial novel "The Satanic Verses". The plea came up for hearing before a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta. The counsel appearing for the petitioners referred to the Delhi High Court's November last year order. The high court had closed the proceedings on a petition challenging the Rajiv Gandhi government's decision to ban the import of "The Satanic Verses" in 1988, saying since authorities have failed to produce the relevant notification, it has to be presumed that it does not exist. "You are effectively challenging the judgement of the Delhi High Court," the bench observed, while dismissing the plea. The petition was filed in the apex court through advocate Chand Qureshi. It alleged the book was available due to the order passed by the high court. The Centre had banned the import of the Booker Prize-winning author's "The Satanic Verses" for law-and-order rea

What happened in the 2024 election? Kamala Harris shares some thoughts

Harris was initially bewildered by Biden's sudden switch, including his determination to rush out an announcement

Ishita Tiwary's book shows how video cassettes changed our visual culture

It would be no exaggeration to say that making sense of the evolution of the media industry is challenging given the sheer scale and the short span of its transformation

Trial by Water: Assessing the paradoxical legacy of Indus Waters Treaty

Uttam Kumar Sinha's book Trial by Water: Indus Basin and India-Pakistan Relations would be useful to anyone who is keen to understand India's official stance through a historical framework

The Call of Music: Recording journeys of resilience for the sake of art

In her latest book, reputed Hindustani classical vocalist Priya Purushothaman traces the experiences of eight singular voices in Hindustani classical music that have deeply inspired her

India's Act East policy needs deeper economic integration with Asean

India's Act East policy needs fresh momentum through deeper economic integration with Asean

The Hindi heartland: Indian history at the turbulent core of change

Regaling with stories, the Hindi heartland takes us through history, unraveling not only wars and invasions but also the beliefs of victors across eras, showing how we arrived where we are today

Why the poor don't kill us: A must-read on why India is still Bharat

The poor attacking the rich is relatively rare in India. Sordid jails and the snail-paced judiciary are effective disincentives for voluntary criminal acts

The Art of War and Peace: From Ethiopia to Ukraine, what's changed, endured

The book contains analytical accounts of the 20-year Afghan War, which ended with ignominious withdrawal of US and Western military forces & with the Taliban gaining control over the entire country

M S Swaminathan: Celebrating an icon of India's Green Revolution

As one reflects on Swaminathan's life and time, it is worth wondering if India could produce towering figures like him today

The CIA Book Club reveals how the West won minds behind the Iron Curtain

How the CIA, instead of pursuing scandalous swashbuckling interventions, smuggled books to weaken the Iron Curtain and offer Eastern Europe a glimpse of an alternative future

Kiran Desai returns to Booker longlist with new novel after 19 years

Booker Prize-winning author Kiran Desai on Tuesday returned to the coveted literary award longlist with The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny', a novel described by the judges as a vast and immersive tale about a pair of young Indians in America. The 53-year-old Delhi-born author, who won the Booker Prize 19 years ago in 2006 with The Inheritance of Loss', joins 12 writers from around the world for the so-called Booker Dozen of 13 books that will be whittled down to six shortlisted titles by September. Desai's latest novel stands out as the longest on the longlist, weighing in at 667 pages and published by Hamish Hamilton. The shortest is "Universality" by Natasha Brown at 156 pages. "She has spent almost 20 years writing The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny'. Should she win this year, she would become the fifth double winner in the prize's 56-year history, Booker Prize Foundation said in a statement. Desai has a family history with the prize: her mother Anita Desai was shortlisted for th

Children of Radium: 'Digging for Trauma' in Nazi Germany's History

In the course of his research, Dunthorne makes multiple visits to Germany and tries to retrace and recreate his great-grandfather's life

H.I.T. Investing: A new book the balance between purpose and profit

It is hard to fathom how any organisation could build a sustainable business by offering high-quality products at affordable prices, but many have done just that. H.I.T. Investing tells their stories

The Mission: Tim Weiner's book explains how the CIA lost its way

Throughout The Mission, Weiner hammers on an agency that seems to be repeatedly blinded by its sense of American supremacy

Lesley Downer's new book offers a grand panoramic tour of Japan's history

Japan has received far more than its share of natural disasters, most massive earthquakes, volcano eruptions, gigantic tsunamis and ravaging fires

The Stoic Capitalist: Ancient Greek philosophy meets the American Dream

The ancient Greek philosophy lives on as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Here's how to use its principles to handle real-life situations and build a life of your dreams

Widows: Schipper's eight chapters offer deep insight into grieving, rights

The eight chapters of Schipper's magisterial work offers a deep understanding into such issues as the kind of grieving is considered acceptable for a widow

Rivers as kin, not property: A powerful case for ecological empathy

There is hope that we can conserve what remains and revive what has been lost of our rivers - but it begins with acknowledging that a river is a living, breathing entity