Reinventing Cities
Cities are central to modern civilisation. A magnificent book by Alain Bertaud tells us how to fix them.
We Are All Time Travellers
Stephen Hawking knew what questions to ask — and he wasn’t bad at the answers either, as his last book indicates.
Fighting Back Against the State
Jason Brennan’s When All Else Fails makes a rigorous argument that our right to self-defence and to defend others applies even against violence committed by the state.
The Basics of the UBI
Guy Standing’s primer is an excellent guide to the main talking points of the Universal Basic Income.
Moving Beyond Tangibles
Capitalism Without Capital is an impressive work that fills the mainstream gap on the intangible economies.
Where’s the Competition?
The danger to capitalism comes from capitalists. A new book, ‘The Myth of Capitalism’, illustrates how this works.
The Exotic Life of a Diplomat
The Ambassador’s Club is an important scholarly work and a great read for anyone interested in Indian foreign policy.
The Kautilyan Prime Minister
Vinay Sitapati’s biography of PV Narasimha Rao shows the ancient influence on this modern politician.
Ghosts of Ancestors Past
Tony Joseph’s ‘Early Indians’ is a lucid and important work on the earliest Indians.
Beyond the Circle of Kings
Deepshikha Shahi’s philosophical-literary study of the Arthashastra lays the foundation for a new era in global IR theory.
Getting the Bomb and Beyond
Indian Nuclear Policy strikes a fine balance between depth and the number of subjects that crop up in India’s nuclear history
Is Overhype Overkill?
A chapter from a recent book examines the dynamics of the Uri strikes.
Why Aren’t We Law-Abiding?
Kaushik Basu’s new book uses game theory to explore why some laws are obeyed while others are flouted.
The Seas of Citizenship
Crossing the Bay of Bengal uses the sea as a lens to study nationalism and migration. It paves the path for new approaches to political phenomena.
A Handover Like Nothing Before
Michael Lewis’ latest book, The Fifth Risk, is a riveting read about how the Trump Administration took control of the government.
Chaos, Continuity and Purpose
Sulman Wasif Khan’s Haunted by Chaos provides an expansive view of the ideas, interests and concerns of three generations of Chinese leaders.
Caste Still Burns in Pakistan
As a recent book on a Balochistan temple illustrates, caste politics still divides the Hindus of Pakistan.
What’s Scarier than Trump?
With its people-centric narrative and saucy style, Bob Woodward’s ‘Fear’ provides a masterclass in contemporary American politics.
Democracy Is in Trouble
Yashcha Mounk’s ‘The People vs Democracy’ does a great job of explaining the problem. Now to solve it.
How Russia Became Russia
Arkady Ostrovsky’s ‘The Invention of Russia’ describes how a decades-long struggle between nationalists and liberals led to Putin.