Books of The Week -21st June, Saturday 2025

Shattered Lands : Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia by Sam Dalrymple 

ABOUT THE BOOK

A history of modern South Asia told through five partitions that reshaped it.

As recently as 1928, a vast swathe of Asia--India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, Bhutan, Yemen, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait--were bound together under a single imperial banner, an entity known officially as the 'Indian Empire', or more simply as the Raj.

It was the British Empire's crown jewel, a vast dominion stretching from the Red Sea to the jungles of Southeast Asia, home to a quarter of the world's population and encompassing the largest Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Zoroastrian communities on the planet. Its people used the Indian rupee, were issued passports stamped 'Indian Empire', and were guarded by armies garrisoned forts from the Bab el-Mandab to the Himalayas.

And then, in the space of just fifty years, the Indian Empire shattered. Five partitions tore it apart, carving out new nations, redrawing maps, and leaving behind a legacy of war, exile and division.

Shattered Lands, for the first time, presents the whole story of how the Indian Empire was unmade. How a single, sprawling dominion became twelve modern nations. How maps were redrawn in boardrooms and on battlefields, by politicians in London and revolutionaries in Delhi, by kings in remote palaces and soldiers in trenches.

Its legacies include civil wars in Burma and Sri Lanka, ongoing insurgencies in Kashmir, Baluchistan, Northeast India, and the Rohingya genocide. It is a history of ambition and betrayal, of forgotten wars and unlikely alliances, of borders carved with ink and fire. And, above all, it is the story of how the map of modern Asia was made.

Sam Dalrymple's stunning narrative is based on deep archival research, previously untranslated private memoirs, and interviews in English, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Punjabi, Konyak, Arabic and Burmese. From portraits of the key political players to accounts of those swept up in these wars and mass migrations, Shattered Lands is vivid, compelling, thought-provoking history at its best.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sam Dalrymple is a Delhi-raised Scottish historian, film-maker and multimedia producer. He graduated from Oxford University as a Persian and Sanskrit scholar. In 2018, he co-founded Project Dastaan, a peace-building initiative that reconnects refugees displaced by the 1947 Partition of India. His debut film, Child of Empire, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2022 and his animated series, Lost Migrations, sold out at the British Film Institute the same year. His work has been published in the New York Times, Spectator and featured in TIME, The New Yorker and The Economist. He is a columnist for Architectural Digest and, in 2025, Travel & Leisure named him ‘Champion of the Travel Narrative'. Shattered Lands is his first book.

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Books Of The Week - Saturday, 6th January 2024

Why Bharat Matters 

by - S. Jaishankar

About the Book

Whether drawing strength from its heritage and culture or approaching challenges with the optimism of democracy and technology, this is certainly a New India—an India that is more Bharat.

This is not just a tough world but also a turbulent and unpredictable one. It is marked by the impact of Covid, conflicts in Ukraine and West Asia, climate events, radicalization and terrorism. There is complex geopolitics at work, such as the rise of China, the changed posture of the United States, the strategy of Russia, the impact of globalization and the power of new technologies.

India seeks to navigate these stormy seas without diluting its focus on becoming a leading power. As a vishwa mitra, it seeks the well-being of the Global South and to contribute to global good. India is more salient in global calculations and stands ready to embrace coming responsibilities and opportunities. Entering the Amrit Kaal, it visualizes an era of growth and development while staying true to its traditions and heritage.

In Why Bharat Matters, S. Jaishankar argues that while rising powers seek stability most of all, India must plan to rise amidst serious unpredictability. This process is also exceptional as it represents the rejuvenation of a civilizational state. Simultaneously, he also explains why foreign policy in a globalized world matters increasingly to all citizens in their daily lives.

This book is a must-read for every Indian to understand and seriously reflect on the reality of our times that is becoming clearer with each passing day—that India matters because it is Bharat.

About the Author

S. Jaishankar has been India’s External Affairs Minister since May 2019 and is currently a member of the Rajya Sabha representing Gujarat. He was India’s Foreign Secretary from 2015 to 2018. In a career spanning four decades in the Indian Foreign Service, he served as Ambassador to the United States, China and Czech Republic as well as High Commissioner to Singapore. His previous book, The India Way: Strategies for an Uncertain World, was published in 2020. 

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Books of the Week - Saturday, 07th August, 2021

Song of Draupadi 

By Ira Mukhoty 

 About the Book

The Mahabharat is renowned for its great battles, heroic men, and gods walking the pathways of mortals. However, the beating heart of the epic is often forgotten—the stories of its women. Many of these exceptional women appear in Song of Draupadi—the indomitable Satyavati, the otherworldly Ganga, the indestructible Kunti, and the tenacious Gandhari—but the passionate and fiery Draupadi rises above them all to grip the imagination of the reader.
Born of a dangerous sacrifice, Draupadi and her brother Drishtadumna are called forth to avenge Drona’s insult to their father. While Drishtadumna is expected to kill Drona on the battlefield, Draupadi’s role is not set out, but she dreams of fire and blood. From beloved daughter and princess of Panchala to wife of the brave Pandavas and queen of Indraprastha, Draupadi finds herself exiled to the forest, humiliated and determined on vengeance. The novel is a symphony, in several keys, of her voice and those of the other women around her—arguing, pleading, reasoning, and often raised in righteous anger.

About the Author

Ira Mukhoty is the author of Akbar: The Great Mughal, Daughters of the Sun: Empresses, Queens and Begums of the Mughal Empire and Heroines: Powerful Indian Women in Myth and History. Living in one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, she developed an interest in the evolution of mythology and history, the erasure of women from these histories, and the continuing relevance this has on the status of women in India. She writes rigorously researched narrative histories that are accessible to the lay reader. She lives in Gurgaon with her husband and two daughters. Song of Draupadi is her first novel.

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BOOKS OF THE WEEK - SATURDAY, 21ST NOVEMBER, 2020

  A Promised Land 
Written by : Barack Obama

About the Book :

A riveting, deeply personal account of history in the making-from the president who inspired us to believe in the power of democracy.

In the stirring, highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his identity to leader of the free world, describing in strikingly personal detail both his political education and the landmark moments of the first term of his historic presidency-a time of dramatic transformation and turmoil.

Obama takes readers on a compelling journey from his earliest political aspirations to the pivotal Iowa caucus victory that demonstrated the power of grassroots activism to the watershed night of November 4, 2008, when he was elected 44th president of the United States, becoming the first African American to hold the nation's highest office.

Reflecting on the presidency, he offers a unique and thoughtful exploration of both the awesome reach and the limits of presidential power, as well as singular insights into the dynamics of U.S. partisan politics and international diplomacy. Obama brings readers inside the Oval Office and the White House Situation Room, and to Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, and points beyond. We are privy to his thoughts as he assembles his cabinet, wrestles with a global financial crisis, takes the measure of Vladimir Putin, overcomes seemingly insurmountable odds to secure passage of the Affordable Care Act, clashes with generals about U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, tackles Wall Street reform, responds to the devastating Deepwater Horizon blowout, and authorizes Operation Neptune's Spear, which leads to the death of Osama bin Laden.

A Promised Land is extraordinarily intimate and introspective-the story of one man's bet with history, the faith of a community organizer tested on the world stage. Obama is candid about the balancing act of running for office as a Black American, bearing the expectations of a generation buoyed by messages of "hope and change," and meeting the moral challenges of high-stakes decision-making. He is frank about the forces that opposed him at home and abroad, open about how living in the White House affected his wife and daughters, and unafraid to reveal self-doubt and disappointment. Yet he never wavers from his belief that inside the great, ongoing American experiment, progress is always possible.

This beautifully written and powerful book captures Barack Obama's conviction that democracy is not a gift from on high but something founded on empathy and common understanding and built together, day by day.

About the Author :

Barack Obama was the 44th president of the United States, elected in November 2008 and holding office for two terms. He is the author of two previous New York Times bestselling books, Dreams from My Father and The Audacity of Hope, and the recipient of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Michelle. They have two daughters, Malia and Sasha.

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BOOKS OF THE WEEK - SATURDAY, 24TH OCTOBER, 2020

Princestan: How Nehru, Patel and Mountbatten Made India

Written by : Sandeep Bamzai 

About the Book :

In the run-up to independence, a vile plan was devised by a handful of powerful princes to not join either India or Pakistan. The plan was led by the Chancellor of the chamber of princes, Nawab of Bhopal, who was operating under the patronage of Mohd. Ali Jinnah, Lord wavell and British prime Minister Winston Churchill. The idea was to create a third dominion called princestan where the 565 princely states would stay outside the ambit of the two free states and retain paramountcy under the aegis of the departing British. The success of such a malevolent plan would have made the newly independent nation unstable and vulnerable. However, three persons stood in the way of the nefarious British plan to balkanize India. This is the hitherto untold story of how Jawaharlal Nehru, Lord Mountbatten and Sardar Patel battled the rulers of the princely states at every twist and turn to foil that cunning plan, even as the process of decolonization had begun.

About the Author :

SANDEEP BAMZAI is a news junkie, having worked across all major news platforms in positions of eminence for the last thirty-seven years. He began his career as a cricket writer with The Statesman in Kolkata. He has worked in Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi with the biggest media houses. The last decade has seen him on the news frontline as Executive Editor at TV Today, Editor at Mail Today, Editor-in-Chief and COO at Financial Chronicle and, currently, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of independent newswire IANS. He has also worked at The Indian Express, Illustrated Weekly, Business India, and Hindustan Times—a life he describes as a ‘fulfilling journey’. An alumnus of the prestigious St Columba’s in Delhi, he graduated in Economics from the University of Calcutta. He has written four books, including Guts & Glory: The Bombay Cricket Story and Deconstructing the Accession: Bonfire of Kashmiriyat. Over the last 20 years, he has been focusing on the space where politics and economy merge.

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BOOKS OF THE WEEK - SATURDAY, 4TH MAY, 2019

Hilal Ahmed 

By - Hilal Ahmed

About the Book  

How do we make sense of the Muslims of India?

Do they form a political community?

Does the imagined conflict between Islam and modernity affect the Muslims' political behaviour in this country?

Are Muslim religious institutions-mosques and madrasas-directly involved in politics?

Do they instruct the community to vote strategically in all elections?

What are 'Muslim issues'?

Is it only about triple talaq?

Are Muslims truly nationalists? Or do they continue to remain just an 'other' in India?

While these questions intrigue us, we seldom debate to find pragmatic answers to these queries. Examining the everydayness of Muslims in contemporary India, Hilal Ahmed offers an evocative story of politics and Islam in India, which goes beyond the given narratives of Muslim victimhood and Islamic separation.

About the Author

Hilal Ahmed, associate professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), New Delhi, writes regularly on the nature of Muslim political discourse. He is the associate editor, South Asian Studies, journal of the British Association of South Asian Studies.

ISBN : 9780670091409     Price : Rs.599.00

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BOOKS OF THE WEEK - 14TH APRIL, 2017

All By Myself, Alone

By - Mary Higgins Clark 

 -------------------------- About the Book ------------------------------

A glamorous cruise on a luxurious ocean liner turns deadly in this thrilling novel from the ‘Queen of Suspense’ and international bestselling author Mary Higgins Clark. Fleeing the humiliating arrest of her husband-to-be on the eve of their wedding, Celia Kilbride, a gems and jewellery expert, hopes to escape from public attention by lecturing on a brand-new cruise ship, the Queen Charlotte. On board she meets eighty-six-year-old Lady Emily Haywood – the owner of a priceless emerald necklace that she intends to leave to a museum after the cruise. But three days out to sea she is found dead – and the necklace is missing. And the list of suspects is large and growing. Celia, with the help of her new friends Willy and Alvirah Meehan, who are celebrating their forty-fifth wedding anniversary, sets out to find the killer, not realizing that she has put herself in mortal danger before the ship reaches its final destination…

-------------------------- About the Author ------------------------------

Mary Higgins Clark, The number one New York Times bestselling author she has written thirty-five suspense novels; four collections of short stories; a historical novel, a memoir, two children's books and most recently partnered with Alafair Burke to collaborate on a new series: The Under Suspicion novels. With her daughter Carol Higgins Clark, Clark has co-authored five more suspense novels. Her books are international bestsellers with more than one hundred million copies in print in the United States alone.

 ISBN : 9781471162824    Price : Rs.550.00/-  

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BOOKS OF THE WEEK - 27TH JANUARY, 2017

Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor Uncensored

by - Rishi Kapoor and Meena Iyer 

                    About the Book :                     

Son of a famous father. Father of a famous son. I am the hyphen between them.

Only, Rishi Kapoor was and is so much more. Few actors in Hindi cinema have had this sort of a career arc: from the gawky adolescent pining for his schoolteacher (Mera Naam Joker, 1970) to the naughty ninety-year-old (Kapoor and Sons, 2016), Rishi Kapoor has regaled audiences for close to fifty years. He won a National Award for his debut, became an overnight sensation with his first film as a leading man (Bobby, 1973), and carved a niche for himself with a string of romantic musical blockbusters in an era known for its angst-ridden films. He was the youth icon that is still the toast of the satellite TV circuit. The songs he 

lip-synced are the bread and butter of all radio stations even today. Then there was the second coming after a brief hiatus in the 1990s – as one of the finest actors in mainstream Hindi cinema with powerhouse performances in films like Do Dooni Chaar, D-Day, Agneepath and others.

Characteristically candid, Rishi Kapoor brings Punjabi brio to the writing of Khullam Khulla. This is as up close and personal a biography as any fan could have hoped for. He writes about growing up in the shadow of a legendary father, skipping school to act in Mera Naam Joker, the workings of the musical hits of the era, his streak of rotten luck with awards, an encounter with Dawood Ibrahim, his heroines (their working relationship, the gossip and the frisson that was sometimes real), his approach to his craft, his tryst with clinical depression, and more. A heart-warming afterword by Neetu Singh rounds off the warmest, most dil se biography an Indian star has ever penned.

                    About the Author :                     

Rishi Kapoor is one of India’s most popular film stars. He debuted as a child artiste in his father Raj Kapoor’s magnum opus Mera Naam Joker, winning a National Award for his performance. His first role in the lead came with Bobby, a blockbuster that established a new template for the teeny-bopper romance in Hindi cinema. In the 1970s, Rishi Kapoor delivered a series of musical hits like Khel Khel Mein, Laila Majnu, Hum Kisise Kum Naheen, Sargam and Karz. He was also the perfect foil to Bachchan in some of the most celebrated hits of the era like Kabhi Kabhie, Amar Akbar Anthony, Naseeb and Coolie. Over the last decade, Rishi Kapoor has delivered some of the finest performances of his career in a diverse array of roles – a middle-class school teacher in Do Dooni Chaar, a dreaded don in D-Day, a pimp in Agneepath and a naughty patriarch in Kapoor and Sons – far removed from the chocolate-boy romantic hero of the ’70s.

                  ISBN : 978-9352643028             Price : Rs. 599.00                  

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BOOKS OF THE WEEK

IQBAL : THE LIFE OF A POET, PHILOSOPHER AND POLITICIAN

BY - ZAFAR ANJUM 

About the Book : 

Allama Mohammad Iqbal, whom Sarojini Naidu called the Poet laureate of Asia, remains a controversial figure in the history of the Indian subcontinent. On the one hand, he is considered the Spiritual Father of Pakistan. On the other, his message of eastern revivalism places him in the ranks of the twentieth centurys major intellectuals. Iqbals tragedy was that after his death, he was made the national poet of Pakistan and largely ignored in India. In his time, he was lauded as much as Tagore, but today India celebrates Tagore while Iqbal has been banished from her consciousness.

This meticulously researched biography will redress that erasure. This is the story of Iqbals evolution as a poet, philosopher and politician. While his role in the struggle for Indias freedom and the Pakistan movement are well known, not much is known about his personal life. This book highlights some of the least known facets of the poets life-how did a nationalist poet transform into a poet of Islamic revivalism and global revolution? How did three years in Europe change Iqbals political and philosophical outlook? Why did he start writing in Persian during his stay in Europe? Why did his first marriage fail and how did his romantic relationships affect him? What exactly was the poets role in bringing about Partition? Written with the passion of an ardent devotee, Zafar Anjums Iqbal answers all of these questions-and many more-in this carefully told biography.

About the Author :

Singapore-based journalist, writer and filmmaker Zafar Anjum has been published in India, the US, the UK, Singapore and other countries. His most recent works include a work of non-fiction, The Resurgence of Satyam (Random House India, 2012) and a collection of short stories, The Singapore Decalogue - Episodes in the Life of a Foreign Talent (Red Wheelbarrow Books, Singapore, 2012).

ISBN : 9788184005868 PRICE  Rs. 499/-

BOOKS OF THE WEEK

THE HANGING OF AFZAL GURU

BY - ARUNDHATI ROY

About the Book : 

On 13 December 2001, the Indian Parliament was attacked by a few heavily armed men. Eleven years later, we still do not know who was behind the attack, nor the identity of the attackers. Both the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court of India have noted that the police violated legal safeguards, fabricated evidence and extracted false confessions. Yet, on 9 February 2013, one man, Mohammad Afzal Guru, was hanged to ‘satisfy’ the ‘collective conscience’ of society. 

This updated reader brings together essays by lawyers, academics, journalists and writers who have looked closely at the available facts and who have raised serious questions about the investigations and the trial. This new version examines the implications of Mohammad Afzal Guru’s hanging, and what it says about the Indian government’s relationship with Kashmir. The writers show how there is hardly a single piece of evidence that stands up to scrutiny and emphasize the urgent need for an impartial, transparent inquiry into the Parliament attack and its aftermath.

About the Author :

Arundhati Roy is a world renowned Indian writer in English. She was born on November 24, 1961 in Shillong, Meghalaya.

She spent her childhood in Aymanam in Kerala, and did her schooling from Corpus Christi, Kottayam, followed by the Lawrence School, Lovedale, in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu. She then went on to study architecture at the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi. She married twice and presently lives with her second husband. She played a village girl in the award winning movie Massey Sahib, directed by her second husband Pradip Krishen in 1984.

The super success of her novel The God Of Small Things put her on the global platform and brought in a sense of financial stability. She worked various jobs before the critical and commercial success of her novel. Having spent her childhood in Kerala, there are imageries of the lush green place in 'The God Of Small Things'.

She has written novels, essays and is more of a social activist. She is actively involved in the Narmada Dam project, Sardar Sarovar project, the war against terror  and India's nuclear weaponization. She has voiced her support for the Kashmiri separation and received criticism from the Indian National Congress and BJP for her remarks.

She  is also a winner of many coveted awards like Booker Prize for her novel The God of Small Things, National Film Award for Best Screenplay in 1989, for the semi-autobiographical screenplay of 'In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones'. She was also awarded the Sydney Peace Prize in May 2004 for her work in social campaigns and her advocacy of non-violence. She was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for her collection of essays on contemporary issues, The Algebra of Infinite Justice which she refused to accept.

Among her literary works are books like The God of Small Things, The End of Imagination, The Greater Common Good, An Ordinary Person's Guide To Empire, Public Power in the Age of Empire Seven Stories Press, The Shape of the Beast and Listening to Grasshoppers: Field Notes on Democracy to  list a few.

 ISBN : 9780143420750                                                                PRICE : Rs. 299.00 

BOOKS OF THE WEEK

WHATS LEFT

by - NICK COHEN

About the Book  :

'A roaring polemic of outrage against the moral and political crisis of the liberal tradition. It is already one of the most discussed current affairs books of the new year…At the very least it forces anyone on the left to think carefully about where their movement has ended up in the modern world.' The Guardian

‘The book is a superbly sustained polemic.' Sunday Times

‘Exceptional and necessary…Do not feel you have to be a leftist or liberal to read it, because it engages with an argument that it crucial for all of us, and for our time.’ Christopher Hitchens, Sunday Times

‘This is a brave, honest and brilliant book. Every page has a provocative insight that makes you want to shake the author's hand or collar him for an argument. Who could ask for more?’ The Observer

'(He writes with) a genuine passion and human sympathy about people who have experienced appalling suffering.' Michael Burleigh, The Evening Standard

‘Undoubtedly controversial and provocative “What’s Left?” is, as its title suggests, a bleakly witty but perhaps dimly hopeful examination of what it means to be liberal in an age where the lines that have been drawn in the sand are in danger of being washed away.’ Waterstones Books Quarterly

‘One of the most powerful denunciations of the manner in which the Left has lost its way…Cohen's is a brave voice.'

About the Author :

Nick Cohen is a columnist for the Observer, The New Statesman and The Evening Standard. In his Channel Four documentaries and general media appearances, he has proved himself to be the witty and excoriating voice of the left. He commands a loyal readership, as his groaning weekly postbag attests. He is the author of two books. ‘Cruel Britannia: Reports on the Sinister and the Preposterous’, a collection of his journalism, was published by Verso in 1999 and ‘Pretty Straight Guys’, a dissection of the Blair leadership.

 ISBN : 9780007229703                                                                  PRICE : Rs 510.00