Read Of The Week (March 13 to March 19)

The work done by Arun Shourie and his colleagues rocked institutions and governments. What lay behind these and the consequences that followed?

A comprehensive account of dramatic incidents like getting governments to swallow legislation against the press, unseating of chief ministers, a prime minister unspooling himself even as manoeuvres to unseat him are scotched, a deputy prime minister trying to dislodge colleagues with fabricated documents, people's movements ending up as rivulets in the sand, The Commissioner for Lost Causes discusses Shourie's innings, the calumny hurled at him, his dismissal, and his being recalled and removed again.

Delicious tales of characters from the noble to the colourful to the short-sighted to outright bounders: from JP to a president, to prime ministers, a deputy prime minister, chief ministers, a conman, indignant editors, and of course, a great warrior, the press baron, feature in this honest retelling of the life of Arun Shourie, the writer, former editor and minister who was acclaimed as one of the 50 'World Press Freedom Heroes'.