Book Reviews

Nirmal Verma: A Moral Life

Aditya Mani Jha

The making of the writer Nirmal Verma

Here and Hereafter Nirmal Verma’s Life in Literature

Vineet Gill

Independence Day: A People’s History

Veena Venugopal

Tricoloured Memories

Vineetha Mokkil

Oral histories that conjure up the varied experiences of 1947

Kalam: The Untold Story

RK Prasad

Why Abdul Kalam Was Denied a Second Term

RK Prasad

On the eve of his birth anniversary on October 15, his former private secretary makes some startling revelations about the politics behind the scenes

A Case of Indian Marvels: Dazzling Stories from the Country’s Finest New Writers

Edited by David Davidar

Languorous Unfoldings

Somak Ghoshal

An anthology by young writers that spans Mughal nostalgia to present dystopias

In the Name of the Lord: A Nun’s Tell-All

Sister Lucy Kalapura | Translated by Nandakumar K

Speaking from the Cloisters

Nikhita Thomas

A chronicle of the life of a nun and her fight for justice

Best of Friends

Kamila Shamsie

Kamila Shamsie: The Anatomy of a Friendship

Nandini Nair

In her new novel, Kamila Shamsie moves between Karachi of the late 1980s and London of today. She speaks to Open about how childhood bonds can fray and strengthen over time

Reform Nation: From the Constraints of PV Narasimha Rao to Tte Convictions of Narendra Modi

Gautam Chikermane

The Rewards of Ambition

Rajeev Deshpande

How India moved from coercive controls to economic freedom

Hindutva and Violence: VD Savarkar and the Politics of History

Vinayak Chaturvedi

Mapping the Hindu Mind

Rajshree Chandra

Understanding VD Savarkar’s political thought through his idea of history

Ambedkar: A Life

Shashi Tharoor

In a new biography of Ambedkar, Shashi Tharoor gets a measure of the constitutionalist and nation-builder, contending that an honest survey of Ambedkar’s life and its impact needs to also look at those faults for which he can be legitimately criticised without taking away from his greatness