Page 5 - Books

Chasing Salah: Simon Hughes' valiant attempt to decode the enigma

Chasing Salah is Hughes' valiant attempt to offer a fuller portrait of the man. He is hamstrung by the fact that Salah almost never gives interviews, this book included

The Conscience of the Party: A definitive biography of Hu Yaobang

The book documents Hu's more accommodating policies towards ethnic minorities, who had suffered greatly during the Cultural Revolution

Natural allies in the Global South: A deep dive into India-Indonesia ties

Unlike the colonial endeavours of European powers, Indian influence in Indonesia was characterised by cultural and regional integration rather than political domination

Amitava Kumar's The Green Book: A professor's ways of seeing the world

People who aspire to write their own book someday might want to take a cue from Dr Kumar's writerly routine

Becoming Bangalore: Roopa Pai's book explores the city's history, culture

The book is an introduction to the city as seen through the eyes of one of its own

K Ganesh's book offers insights to navigate modern business complexities

With traditional business models being upended by innovative startups, K Ganesh's book is a useful resource for anyone looking to understand and navigate the complexities of modern business

G20 from the backroom: Amitabh Kant on navigating crises and consensus

Kant describes with ill-concealed glee how slack-jawed reporters reacted when a joint communique was indeed accepted as the New Delhi declaration of the G20

Two books explore the reigns, legacies of Queens Victoria and Elizabeth II

Queen Victoria's reign of more than 63 years was overtaken by Queen Elizabeth II, who had reigned for 70 years when she died in 2022

Viewfinder: Palekar's memoirs capture his story, a bygone Bollywood era

Palekar believes that it was a series of serendipitous accidents that led him through most of his life

'How I Write' explores publishing challenges, writers' creative struggles

Each interview in this collection is insightful, unpacking for the uninitiated how the publishing industry works and the types of desirable and undesirable challenges they face

'Return to Sri Lanka': A lyrical journey through its history and politics

It is difficult to stop reading the book

Prosenjit Datta's book highlights facts about India's development goals

Prosenjit Datta's simply argued and logically constructed book encourages readers to look beyond political posturing for the facts on India's developmental goals

Cubbon Reads event in Bengaluru park stopped, organisers claim harassment

Cubbon Reads, a 'silent reading group' in Bengaluru, claimed that their members were evicted and asked to pay a fine of Rs 35,000 for using the Cubbon Park premises

Hameed's memoir calls for reclaiming India's spirit of communal harmony

The book reveals the India that once was, a plural state for which the liberal elite waxes nostalgic, and the India that could be by defeating rising Islamophobia

The White Ladder: Heroes, villains, and the drama of early mountaineering

Approaching the peak, more than 17,000 feet above sea level, the scene shifted from snow and frozen chasms to eruptions of what were described as "great tongues of flame"

The Bataclan terrorists' trial: 10 months of unparalleled horror and pity

The book of Abdeslam turns out to be not that profound - as the trial progresses, Carrere decides he is a "sap caught up in his own contradictions" and an "abysmal void wrapped in lies."

'The Nature of Nature' book review: False solutions for climate change

This book is a must-read for people who beat themselves up for failing to avert every environmental disaster that makes it to the news cycle

S Jaishankar's book offers a practitioner's view of Indian foreign policy

While many academics and diplomats have penned books and memoirs on foreign policy, S Jaishankar's work offers a blend of hands-on experience, insight, and analysis

GN Devy's book questions common assumptions about India's languages

The book would have enhanced its accessibility for ordinary readers if more care had been paid to its presentation and delineation of arguments in support of the author's principal thesis

In this biography, Mitch McConnell hates Trump but loves power more

The overall sense you get from this biography is that McConnell has prioritised little besides his own political survival