BOOKS OF THE WEEK

LAST HOURS ON EVEREST

By -  Graham Hoyland

About the Book : 

Dawn broke fine on that fatal day. A couple of thousand feet above the tiny canvas tent the summit of the world's highest mountain stood impassively, waiting for someone to have the courage to approach. Inside the ice-crusted shelter, two forms lay still as death. Then there was a groan, a stirring and eventually the slow scratch of match against sandpaper. Low voices shared the high-altitude agonies of waking, the heating of water and the struggle with frozen boots. As the sun rose through wisps of cloud beyond the Tibetan hills to the east, one of the men emerged through the tent flaps. It was a fine morning for the attempt, with only a few clouds in the sky. The two of them stood for a while, shuffling their feet and blowing into their hands. Inside the tent lay a mess of sleeping bags and food. The men lifted oxygen sets onto their backs, then they turned towards the mountain and stamped off into history. On the 6th June, 1924, George Mallory and Sandy Irvine disappeared into the mists of history. George Mallory's body was discovered high on Everest in 1999. Sandy Irvine's body is still believed to be on the mountain having been rediscovered in 1975 by a Chinese climber who was killed the very next day. Combining personal experience, the physical evidence found on the mountain and an insight into the hearts and minds of the two climbers, Graham Holland produces the most compelling description of what actually happened on that day and the answer to that most intriguing of questions did they actually climb Everest?

About the Author :

Climber, author and film director Graham Hoyland was the 15th Briton to climb Everest and during one of his nine expeditions to the mountain was responsible for the discovery of George Mallory's body. He writes for the Independent newspaper and worked as a BBC director on programmes such as Dragons' Den, the Today programme and Around the World in 80 Faiths.

  ISBN : 9780007455744                                                     PRICE : Rs. 499.00  

BOOKS OF THE WEEK

The Power of Noticing : What the Best Leaders See

By - Max Bazerman

About the Book : 

Imagine your advantage in negotiations, decision-making, and leadership if you could teach yourself to see, and evaluate, information that others overlook. The Power of Noticing provides the blueprint for accomplishing precisely that. Max Bazerman, an expert in the field of applied behavioural psychology, draws on three decades of research and his experience instructing Harvard Business School MBAs and corporate executives to teach you how to notice and act on information that may not be immediately obvious. Drawing on a wealth of real-world examples, from the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster to Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme, Bazerman diagnoses what information went ignored in these situations, and why. Using many of the same case studies and thought experiments designed in his executive MBA classes, he challenges readers to explore their cognitive blind spots, identify any salient details they are programmed to miss, and then take steps to ensure it won't happen again. While many bestselling business books have explained how susceptible to manipulation our irrational cognitive blind spots make us, Bazerman helps you avoid the habits that lead to poor decisions and ineffective leadership in the first place. His book provides a step-by-step guide to breaking bad habits and spotting the hidden details that will change your decision-making and leadership skills for the better, teaching you to: pay attention to what didn't happen; acknowledge self-interest; invent the third choice; and realize that what you see is not all there is. With The Power of Noticing at your side, you can learn how to notice what others miss, make better decisions, and lead more successfully.

About the Author :

Max Bazerman is the Straus Professor at the Harvard Business School and Co-Director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School, the author of numerous books, including Negotiation Genius with Deepak Malhotra, Blind Spots with Ann E. Tenbrunsel, and Judgment in Managerial Decision Making, with Don A. Moore. His work is frequently quoted in The New York Times and he is among the few most well featured management experts on the web.

ISBN : 9781476700298                           PRICE : Rs. 699.00 

BOOKS OF THE WEEK

MAKERS OF MODERN ASIA

By - Ramachandra Guha 

About the Book

Hardly more than a decade old, the twenty-first century has already been dubbed the Asian Century in recognition of China and India’s increasing importance in world affairs. Yet discussions of Asia seem fixated on economic indicators—gross national product, per capita income, share of global trade. Makers of Modern Asia reorients our understanding of contemporary Asia by highlighting the political leaders, not billionaire businessmen, who helped launch the Asian Century.

The nationalists who crafted modern Asia were as much thinkers as activists, men and women who theorized and organized anticolonial movements, strategized and directed military campaigns, and designed and implemented political systems. The eleven thinker-politicians whose portraits are presented here were a mix of communists, capitalists, liberals, authoritarians, and proto-theocrats—a group as diverse as the countries they represent.

From China, the world’s most populous country, come four: Mao Zedong, leader of the Communist Revolution; Zhou Enlai, his close confidant; Deng Xiaoping, purged by Mao but rehabilitated to play a critical role in Chinese politics in later years; and Chiang Kai-shek, whose Kuomintang party formed the basis of modern Taiwan. From India, the world’s largest democracy, come three: Mohandas Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Indira Gandhi, all of whom played crucial roles in guiding India toward independence and prosperity. Other exemplary nationalists include Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh, Indonesia’s Sukarno, Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew, and Pakistan’s Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. With contributions from leading scholars, Makers of Modern Asia illuminates the intellectual and ideological foundations of Asia’s spectacular rise to global prominence.

About the Author

Ramachandra Guha is a leading historian of modern India, living in Bangalore. His books include Gandhi Before India and India After Gandhi.

Jay Taylor is a Research Associate at the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University.

Rana Mitter is ?University Lecturer in Modern Chinese History and Politics, University of Oxford.

Odd Arne Westad is Professor of International History, London School of Economics and Political Science.

Srinath Raghavan is Senior Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, and Senior Research Fellow at King's India Institute at King's College London.

  ISBN : 9780674365414                                                                  PRICE : RS. 895.00  

BOOKS OF THE WEEK

The Greatest Company in the World?: 

The Story of TATA

By -  Peter Casey

ABOUT THE BOOK :

There is simply no other major business like the Tata Group - a company whose bottom line is doing the right thing for society.

How did Tata transform itself from a family-owned business to one of the most professionally managed enterprises in the world? How did it become a world leader in an array of unrelated businesses from steel and automobile manufacturing to hotels and IT consulting? What exactly is the 'Tata Way', which has earned it so much admiration and respect?

This brief history of the Tatas charts the contribution of every Tata chairman from Jamsetji Tata, who set up the company in 1868, to Ratan Tata and Cyrus Mistry and explores the values at the heart of the Tata Group, as well as the role played in its development by the philanthropic trusts that own two-thirds of the company.

For anyone curious about this Indian company that has become a leading global player, this book is the perfect introduction.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

Peter Casey is founder and executive chairman of Claddagh Resources, a global recruitment and search business that places high-level executives with many of the world's Fortune 500 companies. Having established successful business interests in ×Australia and Ireland, Peter set up Claddagh Resources in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1995. Claddagh currently operates on four continents. Peter was named by Irish America magazine as one of the leading Irish- American businessmen for 2007. He has had a wide portfolio of business interests, including commercial, residential and agricultural property in Ireland. He is best known, perhaps, as an investor on the Irish television programme Dragons' Den, in which he is one of the Dragons. Peter lives in Atlanta with his wife, Helen and their five children, and divides his time between there and his family home in Derry. Outside work he enjoys playing golf badly!

   ISBN : 9780670087686                                                                 Price : Rs. 599.00  

BOOKS OF THE WEEK

Historic Temples in Pakistan:

A Call to Conscience

By - Reema Abbasi 

ABOUT THE BOOK :

A Call to Conscience makes a case for keeping ancient emblems of faith alive and for pluralism in a land of irony that has been home to multiple ancient faiths, yet stands besieged by unpalatable extremism. It aspires to enshrine the ideal of liberty. By framing an all-inclusive piety, this book sets out to ignite a discourse and the collective conscience of a nation numbed into silence, fear or the false conviction of supremacy of a singular religion; to institutionalise the fundamental right of will.

Elaborately embellished with evocative photography of antiquated and exquisite Hindu shrines, opulent rituals and festivals and regional populace, the chronicle has extensive research and exceptional pilgrimage sites—Hinglaj, Katas Raj, Kalka Cave Temple, Panchmukhi Hanuman Mandir, Shivala Mandir, to name a few. While vivid introductions and sweeping images present the landscape and the social fabric of a territory, the redolence of celebrations spread passion and fervour. A special section introduces the extraordinary Fakira, last of the human hands behind idols in Pakistan.Humanity is cast as the oldest of creeds and the reason for faiths. Therefore, devotion cannot be reserved for a sole Call to Prayer

ABOUT THE AUTHORS :

REEMA ABBASI was the recipient of the Gender in Journalism Award 2003 from UNESCO for the most gender sensitive reportage. A journalist for almost 19 years, she began with culture and lifestyle at The News International, moved on to crime and socio-political writing with The Herald Magazineand then became an editorial writer at Dawn. At present, she is a columnist with The Daily Mail, Mail Today and an independent contributor with Dawnand The Indian Express. In the last decade, Reema’s writings have maintained a rabid focus on the values of secularism. With this book, she aims to stir a discourse that dispels intolerance towards any faith and shuns the concept of religious power. She attended herborneSchool for Girls in England and St. Joseph’s College in Karachi, Pakistan. Her other passions include music, reading, writing and research, cinema, travel, art, poetry, and yoga.   

  ISBN : 9789383098491                                                          Price : Rs. 1250.00