The intimate pleasures of biography

A portrait of the world’s most influential diplomat as an idealist. Niall Ferguson in his magisterial biography of Henry Kissinger discovers the intellectual who preceded the statesman

A majestic narrative on the Silk Roads retells global history where West and Central Asia form the axis of power play. The historian as a captivating storyteller is less convincing when he turns prophetic. The roads may not rise again

A big picture book on India’s race to the top has little to back up its claims

Ferdinand Mount’s view of colonialism may be short on historical insight but the story he tells is riveting

The author fails to understand the impact of democracy in South Asia

A nuanced new narrative of the Bangladesh Liberation War looks closely at Mujibur Rahman’s assassin

CELESTIAL HEROISM IS a bestseller, unless it is badly made. In it merges great survivor dramas and the romance of breaching the boundaries of human…