Read of the Week (Nov 30 to Dec 6): 'Speaking Of History' by Romila Thapar, Namit Arora

Speaking of History brings India’s past into sharp, urgent focus. In these wide-ranging conversations, Romila Thapar, the distinguished historian, joins Namit Arora, incisive writer and social critic, to explore how history is written, remembered and fought over.

Together, they pull back the curtain on the historian’s craft: how evidence is weighed, how interpretations are made, and why the past has become a battleground of politics and identity. From caste and gender to religion, mythology and nationalism, they revisit much contested terrain and ask the vital questions ― what can we really know about our past, and why does it matter so much today?

The result is both erudite and refreshingly accessible: a book that challenges distortion and mythmaking, while celebrating history as an act of curiosity, argument and critical inquiry. At a time when the discipline is under siege, Speaking of History is both a defence of rigorous scholarship and a lively reminder that to engage with history in all its complexity is to undertake a profound journey; an inquiry not just into the past, but into ourselves.

Romila Thapar is an emeritus professor of history at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Namit Arora is a writer, social critic and the author of three books.