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Empire of liberty
by M. Rajivlochan
Colossus: The Rise and Fall of the American Empire.
by Niall Ferguson. Penguin, New York. Pages 386. £ 6.30.
FERGUSON
says that the Americans have never hesitated in creating an empire even
when they always denied its existence. First they did away with the
autochthonous people to colonise a new land. Then they controlled a huge
population of slaves to run their economy. In the interim, they scared
away the Europeans from eyeing an empire towards the South; that area
along with its banana republics being claimed as a preserve for the US.
EXCERPTS
Man who led
the mutiny
Amaresh Misra records the life and times
of the revolutionary Mangal Pandey, who
triggered the First War of Independence.
Days at Mayo relived
Priyanka Singh
Tin Fish by Sudeep Chakravarti. Penguin. Pages 236. Rs 250.
TIN
Fish is funny and it is sad. It makes you giggle with its boyish, and
sometimes wry, humour. It takes you through the lows with pretty much
the same intensity. Feelings run deep here, even as there is a conscious
effort to camouflage emotions—a typical boy-doing-the-big-man act.
Rescue from ivory
tower
Rajdeep Bains
The India House
by William Palmer. Jonathan Cape, Random House. Pages 249. £ 11
"THE
past is another country: they do things differently there." So says
William Palmer in an article describing one of his early novels, The
Good Republic. He could well be talking about his latest, The
India House, as well.
She took culture to
the masses
by Shalini Rawat
Rukmini Devi Arundale (1904-1986): A Visionary Architect of Indian
Culture and the Performing Arts ed. Dr Avanthi Meduri. Motilal
Banarsidass. Pages 258. Rs 450.
FOR
someone who refused the candidature for the office of the President of
India, Rukmini Devi Arundale clearly knew what she wanted from life. As
for her story, she was crusading for a dying dance form, involved in
reviving theatre arts, crafts and literature, actively disseminating the
message of theosophy, fighting for animal rights and in whatever little
space was left on life’s margins, she was creating, always.
Telling apart
governance from governability
by D.S. Cheema
Public Institutions in India: Performance and Design
ed. Devesh Kapur and Pratap Bhanu Mehta. Oxford University Press Pages:
491. Rs. 695.
MANAGEMENT
guru Peter Drucker is not alone in projecting India as the economic
powerhouse of not so distant future. However, it is well known that
India is still underdeveloped because it is under-managed, mis-managed
and un-managed.
More
might to Akbar-Salim dialogues
It had to happen. The dialogues of the famous classic Mughal-e-Azam,
by eminent Urdu writers Aman, Ehsaan Rizvi, Kamaal Amrohi and Wajahat
Mirza, are as majestic as the film itself. So, documentary film-maker
and writer Nasreen Munni has authored a book on this subject.
Short
Takes
Reel under
censorship
Randeep Wadehra
Bollywood Unlicensed
by Derek Bose. Rupa. Pages xix + 220. Rs 195
CENSORSHIP'S
been a controversial issue in all liberal-democratic societies — more
so in the post-Emergency India. It becomes all the more intense when
performing arts, especially cinema, are involved. Should cinema be
censored at all, if so, to what extent? There was a time when, in
Britain, censorship was eulogised.
Useful presentation
Jayanti Roy
The Essential Guide to Doing Research
by Zina O’Leary, Vistaar Publications, Paes 226. Rs 350.
THERE
is nothing original in the theme of how to conduct research. There are a
number of books available on the topic and a lot of websites also
provide tips on research methodology.
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