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OFf
the shelf
How
Russia stopped Napoleon
Reviewed by V. N. Datta
Russia Against Napoleon: The
Battle
for Europe (1807-1814)
By Dominic Lieven.
Allen Lane.
Pages 672. £30.
THE
object of this comprehensive study is to elucidate and explain how,
where and why Napoleon, a military genius, was defeated in Russia. His
grand army was the best in Europe in 1812 which was destroyed and
Alexander I, the Tsar of Russia, pursued Napoleon all the way from
Moscow to Paris, driving him to his abdication and the restoration of
the French monarchy.
America’s
poster boy
Reviewed by Puneetinder Kaur
Sidhu
Mending Souls
By Khushwant Singh.
Rupa.
Pages 98. Rs 195.
MENDING
Souls is an account of how a polymer scientist from BITS,
Pilani, as alumnus and faculty, metamorphosed into America’s very
own Sikh poster boy. He has inspired millions of people to balance
their material and spiritual worlds by following Guru Nanak’s
message of Oneness.
Brainstorming
Reviewed by Kuldip Dhiman
The Emerging Mind
By Vilayanur Ramchandran.
BBC-Profile Books.
Pages 208. Rs 195.
DR
Vilayanur Ramachandran, the author of The Emerging Mind, mentions
the case of David who had sustained head injury in a car accident, and
was in a state of coma. He came out of coma and seemed quite normal,
except he started having one delusion—he would look at his mother
and say, "Doctor, this woman looks exactly like my mother but she
isn’t, she is an impostor".
The
marauding Mongol
Reviewed by Parshotam Mehra
Chingiz Khan: The Life and
Legacy of an Empire Builder
By S. A. H. Haqqi.
Primus Books.
Pages xxx + 321. Rs 995.
In
sharp if striking contrast to its vast if empty expanse (1.56 sq km)
and a measly population of less than three million (2.57 mn to be
precise), today’s Mongolia, with the Russian Federation to its north
and the People’s Republic of China to the south, wields little if
any clout in its neighbourhood.
Radical
future for book publishing
Brian Brady
IT
is the plaything that is far too precious to be wasted on children.
Until now. In a few short months
on the market, the iPad has become the gadget of choice for many
adults, with its Internet access, film and music player and, above
all, its "game-changing" ebook reader.
Mixed marriage as
muse
Tony Tharakan
Writer Tishani Doshi says her new book,
The Pleasure Seekers, was inspired, to some extent, by her parents’
cross-cultural marriage
Snooping
around as a teenager, Tishani Doshi came across a bunch of love
letters written by her Welsh mother to her Indian father and thought
it would make a good novel. The
Pleasure Seekers, just
launched in India, was several years in the making for the
30-something Doshi, a debut novel for the poet, dancer and journalist
who has also co-authored a biography of Sri Lankan bowler Muttiah
Muralitharan.
Tête-à-tête
Probing
depths, enriching canvas
Nonika Singh
DON'T
let her gentle soft-spoken persona beguile you. Arpana Caur, one of
India’s leading contemporary artists, has nerves of steel. And a
heart that despite an open-heart surgery bleeds for the cause of
environment, people, tigers, peacocks, migrant labour ... the list of
her interests is endless.
SHORT TAKES
Canons, Constitutions and crusaders
Reviewed by Randeep Wadehra
Managing in Changing Times
edited by Sid Lowe Response.
Pages xiv+398. Rs 495.
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