Read several books on Mossad, the omnipotent Israeli intelligence service. But this one, ‘Rise and Kill First’ by journalist Ronen Bergman is markedly different. It doesn’t romanticise, nor does it portray the agency as superhuman and invincible. It instead presents a very realistic, almost day-to-day account of Mossad and its sister agencies in Israel. It […]
Excellent narration of the details of the 18-day Mahabharata War. Dr. Narayanacharyulu, an eminent Vedic scholar from Karnataka and a Doctorate in Modern English Literature renders it in a gripping conversational style providing details as though it were an eyewitness account. Of particular significance in the first volume are the chapters dealing with Bhishma’s dilemmas […]
Interesting book passionately arguing for the US to reacquire ‘tragic sensibility’, meaning, it should be ready to lead the struggles for maintaining a peaceful, liberal and democratic international order irrespective of the costs involved. In his inaugural address John F Kennady made a commitment that his generation of Americans, “tempered by war, disciplined by a […]
Just completed this interesting book. Interesting because in a sophisticated manner it tries to suggest that once-a-holy-idea of democracy is no longer a truthful institution and post-truth influence is what drives global democratic politics today. This book is actually about the nervousness of the liberal intelligentsia over the prospects of democracies that they believed would […]
Farah Pandit’s ‘How We Win’ is undoubtedly the best book I have read on the theme of Violent Extremism (as she wishes to call it) sweeping across not only the Muslim lands but the entire world. I have many reasons for my admiration for the book and its author, her being of Indian origin – […]
A very interesting book to read. ‘The 48 Laws of Power’. Some of the suggested laws are so much intriguing that one feels that they are against the Indian ethos. But then, these laws are not for common people, they are for leaders who want power. Although written from a Western or European perspective of […]
Interesting book by a diplomat-turned-politician, Minister in GoI Hardeep Singh Puri about the idiosyncratic decisions of leaders of countries like US, UK and India and how they affected domestic and global governance. Of particular interest could be chapters on Trump, Brexit and global governance. *** Edit job of Penguin Viking was below standard though
Steve Coll’s books are a class apart. He is undisputedly the authority on Pakistan-Afghanistan-America affairs and nexus. His latest book, Directorate S, coming after an equally important book on the same subject ‘Ghost Wars’, is a testimony to his depth and diligence. It is fascinating to read about the many games that each of the […]
Read an interesting book on my kindle ‘Liberal Fascism’ by Jonah Goldberg. This Oxymoronic-sounding phrase was used by the author to actually show a mirror to the pseudo-Liberals in America. You read it; and you get a feeling as though it was about the pseudo-Liberals that you encounter on a daily basis. Liberalism as an […]
Interesting, but not extraordinary. This Rand research document discusses good and bad counterinsurgency or we may call it counterterrorism practices and derives conclusions that are educative to forces involved in CT operations. In all about 30 cases were taken for study. Having seen CT ops closely in Kashmir, AP, Chhattisgarh and North East, I can […]
