Book Reading

Bird watching with Sálim Ali

Our nocturnal friends, the pygmy owlets and shriek owls, are alas, fewer now than when we moved in first two decades ago

War, peace and environmental devastation

In The Long Reckoning, Black unites his areas of expertise in international affairs and the environment to explore a landscape littered with the detritus of war

Food for drama

Shobhaa De's book oscillates between the sombre and serious and is delightful in its description of everything Bengali

Making gender budgeting work

Social mores cannot be changed by fiscal fiats, but gender budgeting is a starting point, argues Lekha S Chakraborty in her book, which could serve as a useful primer to guide policymakers

Meaner than the metaverse

If the internet is the fictional doctor and scientist Bruce Banner, furtive and a little troubled but basically benign, meganets are Incredible Hulks, snarling and uncontainable

An indictment of terror trials

Mayur R Suresh's book delves into the myriad ways terror accused and the justice system interact in a trial, and is replete with stories of human foibles, quirks, unlikely friendships, and anxiety

Party time in China

"The Party Leads All" offers an in-depth perspective on the changes underway under Xi Jinping and how they could affect China in the long term

A media mogul's toxic legacy

We see in precise detail the misogyny of Redstone's lust as he decides that his wealth and professed love for these women give him something like the rights of a king

What does it mean to be liberal?

This is an un-bookish book filled with anecdotes from his life as an engage intellectual, a long-time editor of the leftist magazine Dissent, a signer of statements and joiner of marches

The multicultural landscape of Tamil heritage

'The Sweet Salt of Tamil' unveils the rich literary and cultural past of Tamil Nadu, and how the region's history informs and colours its present

Political impulses in economic policies

'India in Search of Glory' is an unbiased account of the interplay between politics and economics in independent India. This voluminous book needs to be savoured like a fine wine

Early globalisation and its discontents

"Globalisation," as we call it today, was never universally beneficial or beloved, and underneath it coursed a growing discontent

RSS: A worm's eye view

Devanura Mahadeva's book takes a critical look at the RSS and helps readers comprehend the founding principles of the organisation through a series of quotes from its key members

Model mistakes

Mathematical modelling is an indispensable analytical tool, but not always accurate. Erica Thompson's book takes a nuanced look at the challenges of matching its predictions against reality

The nation as a 'continuous conversation'

Through a series of essays, Rajeev Bhargava reflects on our times, what is good and bad, right and wrong. His book is a treatise to the inquiry: Have we lost our way?

Putin's war machine

A military operation that was to last 10 days is now closing in on a year. Mark Galeotti's rigorous book offers a real-time understanding of the Russian operation's catastrophic failure in Ukraine

Exploited in America

The book starts with love stories that introduce us to some of the men and explain why they're so desperate for work

Quitting can be good for you

Human beings find it hard to quit, but life is too short to be wasted on endeavours not worth sticking to. Annie Duke's book illustrates the virtue of knowing when to give up

The Emperor syndrome

Dominic Lieven's 'In the Shadow of the Gods' presents a breath-taking cavalcade of larger-than-life characters, many of whom have left deep imprints on human civilisation

Living the life, energy efficiently

For those looking to live a cleaner and greener life, Energy Efficiency Matters is a ready reckoner offering easy practical steps to reduce their carbon footprint