*Vishnu’s Crowded Temple— India since the Great Rebellion; Maria Misra (Penguin UK/Allen Lane, £6.99) Vishnu’s Crowded Temple explains the persistence of India’s extremes by presenting a new interpretation of its history. Maria Misra argues that India is different largely because its politics rest upon a peculiar foundation.

*Touching Lives— The Little Known Triumphs of the Indian Space Programme; S K Das (Penguin, 2007, pp 257, Rs 250) This is a book that introduces us to the other side of the Indian Space Programme and shows us that ISRO is not just rockets.

*Mosquito; Roma Tearne (HarperCollins, 2007, pp 296, Rs 295) ‘Mosquito lyrically captures a country drenched in both incomparable beauty and the stink of hatred.

*A Flag, a Song and a Pinch of Salt— Freedom Fighters of India; Subhadra Sen Gupta (Puffin/Penguin, 2007, pp 196, Rs 195) A poet who led a protest march, a revolutionary who became a saint, a man who walked for weeks to make salt— read the amazing stories of the great men and women who inspired generations, united a nation and led its people to freedom.

*Shadows in the Dark— Four Plays by Sriranga; Translated by Usha Desai (Unisun, 2007, pp 161, Rs 195) The four plays chosen are those that span the author’s career and are a reflection of his growth as a writer and a thinker.

*Unruly Immigrants; Monisha Das Gupta (Dorling Kindersley, 2007, pp 318, Rs 525) ‘The book makes a vital contribution to the fields of Asian-American and South Asian diaspora studies by detailing the strategies by which post-1965 South Asian progressive organisations in the US have contested notions of belonging and authenticity.

*Winners— A Collection of Prize Winning Stories Poems and Children’s fiction, Volume 3; Edited by Mary Mathew and Annie Chandy Mathew (Unisun, 2007, pp 136, Rs 125) This volume celebrates a clutch of writers with their own defining dynamics.