Page 19 - Bs Reads

Zelensky: Ukraine's leading man

Less than a week before the war, with 190,000 Russian troops on Ukraine's doorstep, Western officials at a Nato summit in Munich had privately urged him to establish a government in exile

From socks to books: A publisher's story

What is creditable about this book is that the writer has not forgotten the unsung soldiers of his trade - its booksellers - and devoted many pages, with photographs, to them

Economics versus the law

Pradeep Mehta's book, critiquing six judgments impacting India's economy, is a call for introspection, highlighting the consequences of overstepping by courts and the problems with the PIL process

India's negotiating imperatives

Even as the global power equations are in a state of flux, India's basic circumstances have to change for it to play a lead role in negotiations

Swadeshi's heroic failure

At a time of 'Make in India' and Asia's rise, the story of a man, a failure in his endeavour, shows us how the past can illuminate and educate our current journey

Capitalism is dead, long live the techno-rentiers

In his new book, economist Yanis Varoufakis argues that we are essentially in a rentier economy, where technology overlords have become the new aristocrats

A reckoning of Churchill's India phobia

A hero to some and a villain to others, Churchill's admirers may find it challenging to dispute Walter Reid's finely argued judgments while examining the anomalous record of his public life

A poetic book on prosaic leadership

Exploring leadership through historical lenses, Moshik Temkin's book offers valuable lessons for larger-than-life leaders of today

A tell-all across gender divide

Khurai's assertion of her identity was not only a defiance of sorts but also a courageous stand for living her life as she wanted in a volatile environment, riddled with militancy and the armed forces

Young and marginalised

Why should older people in politics make room for younger ones to take on the reins? Sudhanshu Kaushik's book delves into this and more to explore the indifference of the youth towards politics

The forgotten revolutionary

The background of Rash Behari Bose bore none of the marks of privilege and distinction that were so prominent in the career of Subhas Chandra

India's growth story: A question of answers

Raghuram Rajan and Rohit Lamba advocate a new growth path for India, rejecting the China model and promoting a strategy anchored in human capital development, and a robust political economy

The other side of the technological revolutions

This book is a necessary antidote to the poisonous rhetoric of tech inevitability that promotes 'winner-take all' technologie

The pioneering prose of a New Journalist

Joan Didion was so much more than the sum of these parts, as this latest biography by Evelyn McDonnell, demonstrates

Geo-economics on the frontline

Exploring the intersection of technology and geopolitics, When the Chips are Down delves into the critical role of semiconductors in this evolving high-stakes dynamic

Making sustainable business work

In an age of 'greenwashing', Esha Chhabra's book is a wake-up call, reminding us that sustainability is a practical possibility

Emperors in their labyrinths

Mary Beard's book may not change conventional notions of imperial Rome, but it does prompt a cautious reevaluation of the simplistic view of imperial personalities

Weirdos of the cosmos

This stands in stark contrast to the way many of us regard the stars. We like contemplating them for precisely the opposite reason

Assam's multicultural identity

Through her exploration of Assamese identity, culture, cuisine, and politics, journalist Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty's book paints a full portrait of a state and its people

Animal instincts, human survival

Just when we are beginning to forget the lessons the Covid pandemic taught us the hard way, Poorva Joshipura's book serves as a stark reminder of the perils that befall when humans mistreat animals