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OFf
the shelf
A
crypto-imperialist
Reviewed by V. N. Datta
Macaulay: The Tragedy of
Power
By Robert E. Sullivan.
Orient Blackswan.
Pages 614. Rs 795.
WHEN
I entered the flat No. K-3 atop the first floor of Kings College,
Cambridge, on January 7, 1957, I found the eminent novelist and writer
E. M. Forster busy writing something. He told me that he was preparing
his BBC talk on Macaulay’s speech in Parliament on the Somnath
temple which was destroyed by Mahmud Ghazni.
Sitting
on a powder keg
Reviewed by D. S. Cheema
India, Pakistan, and the
Bomb: Debating Nuclear Stability in South Asia
By Sumit Ganguly and S. Paul Kapur.
Penguin. Pages 132. Rs 325.
INDIA
and Pakistan have had a violent relationship since the Partition of
1947. Pakistan has remained unhappy with the territorial arrangements
and continued to view the division of Kashmir as
"illegitimate". This has resulted in both the countries
fighting four wars, and the mistrust and bitterness between the two
countries have in no way reduced since then.
Into
the danger zone
Reviewed by Sukhpreet Singh Giani
The Absent State: Insurgency
as an Excuse for Misgovernance
By Neelesh Misra and Rahul Pandita.
Hachette India.
Pages 266. Rs 495.
FOREST
means minerals, minerals means money, money means guns, and guns mean
power." Simple mathematics! The 60-year-old former engineer who
is now a top captured Naxalite leader writes on India’s biggest
internal security challenge, one that the various governments, until
recently, have shied away from recognising.
Nuances
of politics
Reviewed by I. L. Dawra
Political Elite: An Empirical
Reconnaissance
By Samir Kumar.
Singla Law Agency, Chandigarh.
Pages 145. Rs 295.
THE
political elite is the "technical indispensability" of the
modern world. Every system, society or organisation develops some sort
of hegemonic structure which directs, controls, manages and supervises
its working.
Grey
areas explored with elan
Reviewed by Barry Forshaw
Field Grey
By Philip Kerr.
Quercus.
Pages 480. £17.99.
THERE
are two principal ways in which the thriller writer can utilise the
form. One is to use all its accoutrements to take the reader on a
pleasurable ride; the other is to shake out all the clich`E9s and
tackle serious issues.
Revisiting
a romantic
Humra Quraishi
Narayani
Ganesh is a Delhi-based senior journalist, who has recently authored a
book on her father, Gemini Ganesan, titled Eternal Romantic: My
Father, Gemini Ganesan (Roli Books). Needless
to say, that Gemini Ganesan was the reigning superstar of Tamil
cinema. And, perhaps, keeping that in mind, this book was first
released in Chennai by actor Kamal Haasan.
Tête-à-tête
Talented
twosome
Nonika Singh
In
a land where the epitaph of the grand old musical tradition of dhrupad
had all but been written, they carry forward the Dagarvani tradition
of dhrupad with aplomb and effortless ease. Umakant and
Ramakant Gundecha, better known as the Gundecha Brothers, sing with
full gusto, eliciting applause, often standing ovation, at venues
across the country as well as the world over.
Smart
Santa
Modern-day Santa's
gift-giving is driven by technology, says book
Contrary
to the standard characterisation, Santa Claus is no wizard and his
holiday wish-fulfilment operation is driven entirely by technology,
not magic, reveals a new book.
Short Takes
Violence, meditation and spiritualism
Randeep Wadehra
The Man with Enormous Wings
by Esther David
Penguin.
Pages viii+122. Rs 199.
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