Book Review: Uttam Kumar Sinha, Indus Basin Uninterrupted: A History of Territory & Politics from Alexander to Nehru. Gurgaon, Penguin Random House India, 2021. 352pp.

The book traces the history of Indus basin from Alexander’s campaign to Muhammad bin Qasim crossing the Indus River and laying the foundation of Muslim rule in India. It follows up providing the Mughal rulers perspective on hydrology and water use,...

“The Hindus: An Alternative History” by Wendy Doniger: A Twisted Tale

Writing this review, makes me feel how David might have felt facing Goliath. How can one, a layman, have the gumption to take on a world renowned scholar, an accepted expert of her field? But then, perhaps like David, I know I am right, so here...

Buddha in Gandhara by Sunita Dwivedi; Rupa Publications India Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, 2020, 295pp.

‘Buddha in Gandhara’ is the fourth book by Sunita Dwivedi. She is a Silk Road traveller and has a keen interest in uncovering Buddhist heritage across India Subcontinent. This book presents an account of the ancient Buddhist cities of Gandhara—a...

“India’s China Challenge: A Journey through China’s rise and what it means for India” by Ananth Krishnan, Harper Collins, 2021, pp.420, Price Rs. 599

No scholar following India-China relations in India or abroad can ever claim anonymity with Ananth Krishnan regarded as the most authentic interpreter of India-China relations for about decades as a correspondent filing despatches from mainland...

Politics of Geo-politics: Continuity and Change in India-Nepal Relations; Edited by Lok Raj Baral (2018); 256p; price: 799 ISBN-10: 81-8363-138-9; Publisher Adarsh Books, New Delhi

The edited volume includes multiple perspectives of former diplomats and academicians from India and Nepal. It theorises India-Nepal relations, focussing broadly on economic, security and geopolitical relations. The book was published in 2018, and...

Omar Sadr, Negotiating Cultural Diversity in Afghanistan. Oxon: Routledge, 2020, xiii+242 pp., INR 995, ISBN: 978-1138371057

‘Negotiating Cultural Diversity in Afghanistan’ by Omar Sadr is an account of Afghanistan's multicultural society. The book discusses the challenges that the government faces in ensuring national integration under cultural diversity. The book...

A Promised Land by Barack Obama, Crown, New York, 2020 pp.902, Ebook ISBN 9781524763183

The advantage with presidential memoirs of articulate politicians like Barack Obama is that apart from profound thoughts, travails, dilemmas and policy decisions a US President makes, they bring into life with vivid description the humane sentiments...

India and EU: An Insider’s View by Bhaswati Mukherjee, New Delhi: ICWA and Vij Books, 2018, ISBN: 978-81-93759-10-3, pp. 336, Rs 995

Although India was among the first countries to develop ties with the European community in the 1960s, the country’s present level of engagement with the European Union (EU) is not commensurate with the existing potential. The four-year long hiatus...

The Rise and Fall of Khoqand: Central Asia in the Global Age, 1709-1876. By Scott C. Levi, Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh Press, 2017. 2017, 258pp.

Until recently, a few books have been published on the history of Central Asian Khanates of Khiva, Bukhara, and Kokand. In his book, Levi C. Scott, a professor of Central Asian history at Ohio State University, focuses on the historical significance...

Great Game East: India, China and the Struggle for Asia’s Most Volatile Frontier by Bertil Linter, Publishers: Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 2015

Arthur Conolly, an intelligence officer of British East India Company, conceived the expression “great game” to define the strategic rivalry between the British and the Russian empires to acquire supremacy in Central Asia. It was further used to...

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