Partition: The Story of Indian Independence and the Creation of Pakistan in 1947
Barney White-Spunner
An army officer and historian’s balanced appraisal of humanity’s greatest ever migration, a story of bitter division and exploitation. The book omits much. But that doesn't detract from a fine, solid work, which recounts an almost unbearable history with dignity and restraint; neither does the author flinch from publishing photographs which tell a sickening story.
The art and craft of diplomacy
Shyam Saran
A welcome addition to reminiscences by former diplomats, How India Sees the World reinforces several persistent insinuations and inferences and reveals interesting anecdotes about major episodes of Indian foreign policy using Kautilya’s Arthashastra as a constant reference point. Writing in an easy story-telling style, former foreign secretary Shyam Saran shows how “search for strategic autonomy” marks the running thread that binds India’s diplomatic initiatives.
Is That Even a Country, Sir!: Journeys in Northeast India by Train, Bus and Tractor
Anil Yadav
The book is a triptych of travelogue, diary entries, and (often alcohol-induced) philosophical asides that ostensibly set the writer apart from the reporter. There’s immense empathy for the subjects at hand — Anil’s engagement with the Naga impulse for freedom, his depiction of the incongruity of modern-day borders that divide a people straddling both sides, and his chronicling of the raw deal handed out to Tripuri rulers by the fledgling Indian nation eschew statist perspectives.
Ants among Elephants
Sujatha Gidla
A Dalit Christian’s memoir takes on the Indian state for failing to stop the inhumanity endured by the wretched of our hearth. In her landmark dismantling of the Indian state that has failed to live up to the idealism of its preceptors, Gidla appears like a modern day Mahishasuramardini — the goddess who rides a tiger and destroys the buffalo-headed demon of ignorance with a trident aimed at the heart.
Touched by God: How We Won the Mexico ’86 World Cup.
Diego Maradona along with Daniel Arcucci
The tome spread over 226 pages describes in detail the journey of Maradona and his merry band, culminating in World Cup glory. In the beginning, Maradona writes: “This is Diego Armando Maradona speaking, the man who scored two goals against the English — and one of the few Argentines who knows how much the World Cup weighs.”