BOOKS WE RECOMMEND THIS WEEK

Compiled by: Chirdeep Malhotra

1) “How China Sees India and the World” by Shyam Saran

(Non-Fiction | Format: Hardcover/Kindle | MRP: 642 INR)

BLURB: In this magisterial book, acclaimed diplomat Shyam Saran (arguably the country’s greatest expert on China) writes the most authoritative account of the India-China relationship and how China perceives our country. Saran starts his story with the rise and fall of Buddhism and its spread through the trade routes that connected India to China and China to Europe through Central Asia. As he recounts this gripping story, he questions, too, the Chinese claim that it was the most important and influential civilization of the ancient world, arguing that it was India who played that role.
As a work of history, this book is superb and tells its story not just in big, bold strokes but also through entertaining nuggets such as the spread of the chopstick, or how the word ‘zen’ arose from ‘dhyan’. As a work of political analysis, especially of contemporary China and India, it is erudite, acute and strongly argued, based on close readings of contemporary Chinese scholarship, CCP leadership speeches and writings, and through Saran’s own experiences as diplomat and Foreign Secretary. Authoritative and utterly compelling, “How China Sees India and the World” is a masterpiece – a work that will become a classic.



2) “Nomads: The Wanderers Who Shaped Our World” by Anthony Sattin

(History | Format: Hardcover/Kindle | MRP: 655 INR)

BLURB: The ground-breaking story of Nomadic peoples on the move across history. Humans have been on the move for most of history. Even after the great urban advancement lured people into the great cities of Uruk, Babylon, Rome and Chang'an, most of us continued to live lightly on the move and outside the pages of history. But recent discoveries have revealed another story.
Wandering people built the first great stone monuments, such as the one at Göbekli Tepe, seven thousand years before the pyramids. They tamed the horse, fashioned the composite bow, fought with the Greeks and hastened the end of the Roman Empire. They had a love of poetry and storytelling, a fascination for artistry and science, and a respect for the natural world rooted in reliance and their belief. Embracing multiculturalism, tolerant of other religions, their need for free movement and open markets brought a glorious cultural flourishing to Eurasia, enabling the Renaissance and changing the human story. Reconnecting with our deepest mythology, our unrecorded antiquity and our natural environment, “Nomads” is the untold history of civilisation, told through its outsiders.



3) “Freezing Order: A True Story of Russian Money Laundering, State-Sponsored Murder, and Surviving Vladimir Putin's Wrath” by Bill Browder

(Memoir | Format: Paperback/Kindle | MRP: 501 INR)

BLURB: Bill Browder’s gripping thriller chronicles how he became Vladimir Putin’s number one enemy by exposing Putin’s campaign to steal and launder hundreds of billions of dollars and kill anyone who stands in his way.
When Bill Browder’s young Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, was beaten to death in a Moscow jail, Browder made it his life’s mission to go after his killers and make sure they faced justice. The first step of that mission was to uncover who was behind the $230 million tax refund scheme that Magnitsky was killed over. As Browder and his team tracked the money as it flowed out of Russia through the Baltics and Cyprus and on to Western Europe and the Americas, they were shocked to discover that Vladimir Putin himself was a beneficiary of the crime.
As law enforcement agencies began freezing the money, Putin retaliated. He and his cronies set up honey traps, hired process servers to chase Browder through cities, murdered more of his Russian allies, and enlisted some of the top lawyers and politicians in America to bring him down. Putin would stop at nothing to protect his money. As this book reveals, it was Browder’s campaign to expose Putin’s corruption that prompted Russia’s intervention in the 2016 US presidential election.
At once a financial caper, an international adventure and a passionate plea for justice, “Freezing Order” is a timely and stirring morality tale about how one man can take on one of the most ruthless villains in the world.



4) “My Grandmother’s Masterpiece” by Madhurima Vidyarthi

(Children’s Fiction | Format: Paperback/Kindle | MRP: 184 INR)

BLURB: ‘This is the story of how my grandmother became a famous artist. It happened somewhere between my seventh and eighth birthdays, so she was really old and also a grandmother, and I didn’t know she was an artist. And, of course, she was not famous. And then she was both, all at once.’
For Nini, Minima is just her normal everyday grandmother. So when Minima suddenly shows an interest in doing something new, Nini is not sure that she likes it. After all, a grandmother’s first job is being a grandmother, isn’t it?