Rekha Chowdhary
The merit of the study is that it breaks the stereotype of the analysis of the State’s contemporary politics from a myopic view of religious identity.
Reviewed by: Ajay K Mehra
S. Irfan Habib
Despite several biographical works on Azad, a definitive biography was still awaited because the previous biographers had not explored adequately the Urdu writings of Azad and other such sources. This new biography by S Irfan Habib, a Delhi-based historian with a firm grasp on the Urdu language attempts to fill the gap by uncovering some of the enigmatic aspects of Azad’s life, thought and politics. In doing so, he has made extensive use of Azad’s works in Urdu and brought to the fore the enriching and curious facts associated with him.
Reviewed by: Jawaid Alam
Meghnad Desai
Desai’s introspection in this book is of a deeper significance and for that reason should be of utmost importance to any thinking person within and beyond ideological boundaries. Modi’s India would have to wake up from its euphoric slumber and grapple with the truth that economics is about people and not about growth rates, though the relationship between the two is a complicated one.
Reviewed by: Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr
V.S. Seshadri
The book provides a commentary on the relevance of the growing numbers of free trade agreements among different countries in the global economy, with a special reference to India. FTAs have a lot of significance for India. This is not only when India participates in such arrangements with one or the other trade partners but also without direct participation.
Reviewed by: Sunanda Sen
A. K. Bhattacharya
Being a highly experienced journalist who covered the Finance Ministry for close to three decades, AKB has also been able to focus on the key events of each tenure which shape our recollections and perceptions of the tenure. This releases the book from the tyranny of the ‘one-damned-thing-after-another’ school of history.
Reviewed by: TCA Srinivasa Raghavan
Shyam Divan and Armin Rosencranz
The book is the outcome of a singularly complicated remit, whose complexities are duly reflected in its structure. The question is, does it fulfil this remit? In my view it does so most satisfactorily. And scholars, activists, and even members of the public who seek a deeper understanding of environmental law will be greatly benefited by the way it seeks to foreground the black-letter legal narrative against larger social, economic, and political issues, particularly through extracts culled from appropriate secondary literature.
Reviewed by: Abhik Majumdar