Page 9 - Literature

A tour of Mall history

Alexandra Lange's Meet Me by the Fountain is a well-researched introduction to the rise and fall and dicey future of an American institution

Bacha Khan redux

A translation of Abdul Ghaffar Khan's autobiography reminds readers of a towering statesman of the freedom movement whose values remain relevant even today

The face of civil war

The civil war unleashed on the Russian people a brutality that exceeded the worst Tsarist-era atrocities

British Indian author pens new Famous Five adventures as ode to Enid Blyton

The author feels that many adults, worldwide, feel nostalgic about Blyton's books and would want to share them with the children in their lives

A gambler in the casino called Wall Street

Mr Gupta is a raconteur par excellence. His autobiographical account could give any good work of fiction a run for its money

Lockdown economics: Arguments without conclusions

The last part, titled "Ruminations", is too short to present any meaningful analysis of how the author arrived at his conclusions

Planning, democracy and an idea of India

Dr Menon has wisely placed his acknowledgements at the end of the book

Dealing with Black Swans

A Princeton economist convincingly shows that human enterprise and innovation could yet cope with them successfully

The rationality behind irrational decisions

The book is a good read for people trying to foray into behavioural economics

How Jack Welch re-shaped capitalism

David Gelles describes unbroken capitalism's exemplary big companies in the 20th century that treated employees fairly and focused on long-term growth - such as GE

Creating a SHE company

The book is replete with examples of the twin benefits of humility of ignorance and curiosity from passion

Out in the cold in Putin's Russia

Like its prequel, this book is not a bald account of the intricacies of high finance and arcane law-making only

Sustained effort can bring Hindi literature in focus: Geetanjali Shree

More serious sustained and organised efforts, however, will be required to really bring Hindi literature centre-stage

Activism outside a straitjacket

Ms Ramaswamy's book - which is a reflection of her life -challenges us to look at problems in their raw form and find a situational solution

Streamlining your 'monkey-mind'

The book is intellectually stimulating and pretty useful even on a practical level

The importance of dissent

The authors tell us, in some detail, about Mahmood the educationist, whose experiences at Cambridge shaped the manner in which learning was imparted at MAO College

High jumps in India's tech revolution

The big picture he paints in this book is that digital technologies are transforming consumer market opportunities in not just India but possibly in all developing countries

Apple Inc after Jobs

Both men helped save a sinking Apple in the 1990s - Ive first, overseeing the design of a new line of computers with candy-coloured transparent cases

A full stop in India

Jyoti Mukul's book is a welcome study of the economic and emotional impact of the government's decision to shut down transport links to contain transmission of Covid-19

Complexities to our west

Mr Ahmad looks closely at India's interactions with the region and this has much new information as also an analytical and policy perspective of great value