True Detectives

States of Defence

The Memory Wars

The Quiet Gems

The majority of this year’s list of bests comprises quieter books, those which arrived with less fanfare and left a lasting impression

My Choice

Pratap Bhanu Mehta | William Dalrymple | Amit Chaudhuri | David Davidar | Ira Mukhoti | Aatish Taseer | Arundhati Subramaniam | KR Meera | TCA Raghavan | Tridip Suhrud | Tishani Doshi | Mani Shankar Aiyar | Mini Kapoor

Editor’s Choice

Mapping the Nation

A behind-the-scenes account of the creation of India’s states and Union Territories

Eat, Love, Sculpt

An Italian artist travels across timeframes and cultures in the East

Dateline History

Tariq Ali reports from the fault lines of Afghanistan to make sense of its current trauma

Nehru: The Idealist and the Realist

The seamless contradictions of Jawaharlal Nehru