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Favourite books of 2021

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                                                  The most edifying and stimulating books that I read in 2021, in no particular order. Contested Lands, Sumantra Bose An advanced introduction into some of the most intractable conflicts that plague the world, namely Israel-Palestine, Cyprus, Sri Lanka, Kashmir and Bosnia. Although academic in character, it is written in lucid language which makes it an engrossing read even for a non-academic audience. Although I have certain disagreements with some of the author’s assessments, it is definitely an important book to read! See my full review here .   Indian Summer, Alex von Tunzelmann This one was delightful! Growing up indoctrinated into believing in the infallibility of the leaders of the Indian anti-colonial movement, especially Gandhi, I derived great pleasure reading about the peccadilloes and not-so-minor shortcomings in their character. Moreover, it is a fascinating retelling of the movement through the personal lives of the most in
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Indian Summer - The Secret History of the End of an Empire, A Review

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Photo courtesy: Amazon.co.uk Indians hold passionate views about the leaders of their anti-colonial struggle. Most are reverential and the foremost figure in the liberation movement pantheon, Mohandas Gandhi, commands the kind of devotion that is generally reserved for a divinely ordained prophet. The fulsome titles “Father of the Nation” and “Mahatma” or Great Soul speak to the unquestioning veneration of a man who is considered a saintly paragon of virtue. Mohammad Ali Jinnah is similarly glorified in Pakistan (which was also part of erstwhile British India), although with relatively less melodrama. He is known as “Qaid-e Azam” or the Great Leader. Extolling the founding fathers of their countries, however, does not incline people of either country to live by the principles that they fought and stood for. Pakistan is worlds apart from the secular republic that the Qaid-e Azam imagined. Intolerance towards minorities, violence against women and a sham democracy characterise present-da
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Resolving ethno-national conflicts: Contested Lands by Sumantra Bose

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Introduction Ethno-national conflicts are amongst the most powerful and persistent features of global politics. The pattern usually is one side attempts to establish complete dominion over a part of its territory populated by a different people who view it as alien intrusion into their homeland. The stronger side responds to dissent with repression deepening the hostility harboured by the repressed against their oppressor and sparking in them an urge to break away. This urge transforms over time into a staunch demand for freedom and self-determination. Mutual antagonism then breaks out into an all-out war which doesn’t end immediately, but prolongs for many years and even decades.  If one probes into the reasons behind the instances of many ethno-national wars across the world, one finds that in several cases two peoples who define themselves in opposition to each other are forced to live together. Most of these (although not all) occur in the post-colonial world where the colonial mas
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Exit West: A Review

Exactly two months ago, the Tamil Guardian reported that German authorities had rounded up as many as 100 Tamil asylum-seekers in an attempt to deport the lot to the country which they fled to escape being devoured by a rising tide of ultra-nationalism. As victims of a political culture that licensed racism on the grounds that it is supported by a majority, the asylum-seekers, and their fathers and forefathers, have been discriminated against for the best part of their country’s post-colonial existence. Germany, and much of Europe, has probably become inured to stories of wretched human beings abandoning their war-torn homeland and heading to Europe in search of security and nourishment. The exodus from Syria since 2015 hardened Europe’s stance on immigration. So Germany coldly deported the Tamils to Sri Lanka.  This is one of a great multitude of human stories that have been spawned by a defining global phenomenon of our age; emigration. Particularly, movement not propelled by a des
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The Conflagration in Jerusalem

Following days of intense clashes between Israeli police and far-right Jewish activists on the one side and Palestinians on the other in East Jerusalem, the tensions between the two sides have escalated with Hamas launching attacks in Israel and Tel Aviv retaliating. The security forces in the Holy City were particularly brutal in their treatment of Palestinian demonstrators against whom the forces wielded stun grenades and rubber bullets. Some videos that showed a gang of police officers setting upon a Palestinian went viral on social media. Things began to spiral out of control when the Israel police chief blocked the area around Damascus Gate in Jerusalem, an area where Palestinians gather after breaking their fast in the holy month of Ramadan. Though the order was revoked subsequently, it sparked protests with Palestinians coming out onto the streets to rail against an ‘alien’ people hurting their sensibilities. East Jerusalem had been under Israeli control since 1967 when Tel Aviv
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THE COLD WAR, John L. Gaddis, Review

As President Joe Biden officially assumed the highest office of the land and entered the White House, it marked the beginning of an era in American politics and International Relations whose full significance can only be comprehended in retrospect decades into the future. But history can help us ascertain the direction the new epoch is likely to take. An existing superpower is threatened by a putative rising star and the entire globe (or the parts of it that really matter) calibrates its actions to secure its self-interest in the resulting world order. The two main rivals vie for supremacy on a variety of domains until they succeed in subduing their nemesis. The subduing may be inflicted by outside forces, as in the defeat of Nazi Germany, or may be caused by domestic implosion, as occured in the collapse of Soviet Union. But what if both competitors are simply too powerful to be undermined, much less be conquered? It might lead to all-out war. But in the era of nuclear arms, going to
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Book Review: A History of India Volume Two

Few authors can deal with the colossal history of the Indian subcontinent right from the arrival in its land of the central Asian adventurer Babur in the early 16th century all the way through its dominion by the British, established effectively in the mid 18th century and consecrated by the recognition of the crown’s suzerainty in mid 19th century and their subsequent exit in the mid 20th century, and down to the trajectory the newly independent India took in the political, economic and social spheres over the next thirty years, in a single volume other than Percival Spear. A History of India Volume 2 is an account of almost all significant events that transpired in the subcontinent over four and a half centuries. The author must be commended for his temerity to take upon himself such a monumental task. Let us consider in detail how well he has fared in accomplishing it. The book begins in the early 16th century, when much of North India was in a turmoil, with feeble rulers occupyi
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