The Anarchy
William Dalrymple
Bloomsbury, 2019, pp 576, Rs 699
In his most ambitious and riveting book to date, William Dalrymple tells the story of the East India Company as it has never been told before, unfolding a timely cautionary tale of the first global corporate power.
Sridevi: Girl Woman Superstar
Satyarth Nayak
Penguin, 2019, pp 320, Rs 599
Charting five decades of her larger-than-life magic, this book celebrates both the phenomenon and the person called Sridevi. With exclusive access to her family, friends and co-stars in the film fraternity, Satyarth Nayak tracks her journey from child star to prima donna.
So Now You Know
Vivek Tetuja
Harper Collins, 2019, pp 160, Rs 399
The year was 1991. Vivek was eight. He realised he was gay. Only he didn’t: he just figured that he wanted to be different. And that he was in love with his best friend. Funny and heartwarming, this is a memoir of growing up gay in India in the 1990s.
Karna: The Great Warrior
Ranjit Desai, Translated by Vikrant Pande
Harper Collins, 2019, pp 272, Rs 499
‘Who am I?’ This question had troubled Karna all his life. His dignity, his destination, his ambitions — they all seemed linked to that entanglement. Translated into English for the first time, the novel brings to surface the many sides to Karna’s character.
Cow and Company
Parashar Kulkarni
Penguin, 2019, pp 204, Rs 399
A brave and hilarious debut set in colonial India, Cow and Company begins with the British Chewing Gum Company setting up shop in Bombay with the mission of introducing chewing gum in the colonies. They declare paan as their enemy. A cow is chosen as the mascot.
The Kargil Victory
Colonel S C Tyagi
Speaking Tiger, 2019, pp 200, Rs 299
Early in May 1999, when word came from a shepherd searching for his strayed yak that some mysterious men in black clothes were clambering around on the frozen hilltops of Kargil, no one could have anticipated that it would be the precursor to a full-fledged armed conflict between India and Pakistan.
No Margin for Error
Tanushree Podder
Roli Books, 2019, pp 292, Rs 395
On a balmy November evening, a group of terrorists unleashes mindless carnage in the city of Mumbai. Pitted against them, in one of the city’s grandest hotels, are the commandos from the elite special forces. Leading them are two of the forces’ youngest officers. But, only one of them survives to tell their tale.
Out of Our Minds
Felipe Fernández-Armesto
Simon & Schuster, 2019, pp 722, Rs 699
Traversing the realms of science, politics, religion, culture, philosophy and history, Felipe Fernández-Armesto reveals the thrilling and disquieting tales of our imaginative leaps. Through groundbreaking insights in cognitive science, he explores how and why we have ideas in the first place,
providing a tantalising glimpse into who we are.