Books to read this week

Books of the week

The Anarchy

William Dalrymple

Bloomsbury, 2019, pp 576, Rs 699

In his most ambitious and riveting book to date, William Dalrymple tells the story of the East India Company as it has never been told before, unfolding a timely cautionary tale of the first global corporate power.

Sridevi: Girl Woman Superstar

Satyarth Nayak

Penguin, 2019, pp 320, Rs 599

Charting five decades of her larger-than-life magic, this book celebrates both the phenomenon and the person called Sridevi. With exclusive access to her family, friends and co-stars in the film fraternity, Satyarth Nayak tracks her journey from child star to prima donna.

So Now You Know

Vivek Tetuja

Harper Collins, 2019, pp 160, Rs 399

The year was 1991. Vivek was eight. He realised he was gay. Only he didn’t: he just figured that he wanted to be different. And that he was in love with his best friend. Funny and heartwarming, this is a memoir of growing up gay in India in the 1990s.

Karna: The Great Warrior

Ranjit Desai, Translated by Vikrant Pande

Harper Collins, 2019, pp 272, Rs 499

‘Who am I?’ This question had troubled Karna all his life. His dignity, his destination, his ambitions — they all seemed linked to that entanglement. Translated into English for the first time, the novel brings to surface the many sides to Karna’s character.

Cow and Company

Parashar Kulkarni

Penguin, 2019, pp 204, Rs 399

A brave and hilarious debut set in colonial India, Cow and Company begins with the British Chewing Gum Company setting up shop in Bombay with the mission of introducing chewing gum in the colonies. They declare paan as their enemy. A cow is chosen as the mascot.

The Kargil Victory

Colonel S C Tyagi

Speaking Tiger, 2019, pp 200, Rs 299

Early in May 1999, when word came from a shepherd searching for his strayed yak that some mysterious men in black clothes were clambering around on the frozen hilltops of Kargil, no one could have anticipated that it would be the precursor to a full-fledged armed conflict between India and Pakistan.

No Margin for Error

Tanushree Podder

Roli Books, 2019, pp 292, Rs 395

On a balmy November evening, a group of terrorists unleashes mindless carnage in the city of Mumbai. Pitted against them, in one of the city’s grandest hotels, are the commandos from the elite special forces. Leading them are two of the forces’ youngest officers. But, only one of them survives to tell their tale.

Out of Our Minds

Felipe Fernández-Armesto

Simon & Schuster, 2019, pp 722, Rs 699

Traversing the realms of science, politics, religion, culture, philosophy and history, Felipe Fernández-Armesto reveals the thrilling and disquieting tales of our imaginative leaps. Through groundbreaking insights in cognitive science, he explores how and why we have ideas in the first place,
providing a tantalising glimpse into who we are.