Author Archives: Thebookreviewindia

The French Revolution and its aftermath, and the phenomenon of the French Nation have enthused generations of French historians to bring out, from a completely different historical trajectory, the meaning and encoding of French national symbols.

The information technology industry occupies substantial quantum of public discourse space in India—be it in the times of boom or during a phase of recession. It invariably figures prominently in any discussion on economic liberalization or globalization of the Indian economy, and rightly so.

You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows (Bob Dylan). Or do you? Seasons change, so do thoughts, deeds, ideas. Thought leaders—and cheerleaders—rediscover themselves, and turn old notions on their heads. New buzzwords get coined, new coalitions emerge.

It is important to read the Preface to this book to be able to appreciate better its contents, its format, and, why it is the way it is.

The World of Work Report 2008 of theInternational Labour Organisation (ILO) examines the increase in global income inequality and how it is linked with financial liberalization and globalization; and how a policy of ‘Decent Work Agenda’ can improve income inequalities.

The relationship between globalization and redistribution has been a major bone of contention in debates on globalization. The more enthusiastic advocates of globalization view global economic integration as a welcome high tide that will lift all the boats and bring significant economic gains to everyone across the globe; on the other hand,

These volumes, appearing 17 years after he passed away, put together A.K. Dasgupta’s writings penned over a timespan of 62 years starting from 1929. They include books, monographs, articles, and reviews authored by him, reminiscences by and of him, and a biographical sketch of the author by the editor.

This is one of the finest books that I, at any rate, have ever read. Nor have I come across anyone who has read it say anything else. It is superb not just in the way it has been written, but also in what it contains. Above all, it is absolutely unique in the angle from which it has come at the topic, the Great Depression of 1929–32.

At first glance, both the books under review appear to be slick Mills and Boons, the perception reinforced in no small measure by the titles.

Acollection of spiritual-religious hymns, translated from the vernacular in English always anticipates criticism and even dissatisfaction because the original is deemed sacred and by that rule evokes divinity and any attempt to translate is considered an academic exercise which precludes any spiritual insight.

Fahmida Riaz is a Pakistani feminist, a crusader for human rights and an iconoclast. Apart from being a well-known poet, short story writer and a novelist in Urdu, she has been closely associated with the women’s movement in Pakistan.

Pakistani writers are of course in fashion. They are writing in all genres—the serious novel of note, rambunctious social novels, epic sagas, and of course, the simplest and yet the most complex writing form of all—the short story.

‘It is a truth universally acknowledged,’ writes Jane Austen in the opening lines of Pride and Prejudice, ‘that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.’ The same alas cannot be said of a woman of good fortune,

On August 9, 1945, Hiroko Tanaka’s life changed forever. As she rejoiced at the thought of her future with Konrad, her German lover, a mushroom cloud enveloped Nagasaki. Hiroko survived, the design on her silk kimono burning its imprint on her back.

Tash Aw, the Malaysian novelist living in England has been making waves. His The Harmony Silk Factory won the Whitbread Award for a first novel, and also the Costa Award. Incidentally he was reported to have been paid an advance of 500,000 Sterling for that one, though he has denied it.

The languorous beginning of this 500-page novel complements the aura of indolence that also marks its unnamed first person narrator.

Several years ago when I was still a green, young and aspiring editor, Ravi Dayal, then editorial head of the Oxford University Press, gave me my first book to edit.

Epistemologies of Elegance is a book comprising twenty-one ghazals of Ghalib that are favourites of Azra Raza and Sarah Suleri Goodyear. Raza is, surprisingly, a research scientist and cancer specialist who was born in Karachi and now lives in Manhattan.

Diary writing is a very personal and spontaneous recollection of and reflection on everyday life events. A true diary is never written with the intention of publishing it and only rarely assumes importance to people beyond one’s immediate periphery.

The book is the South Asian edition of Geopolitical Exotica: Tibet in Western Imagination which attempts to bring together representations of Tibet and the study of international relations.