scorecardresearch
Friday, September 19, 2025
HomePageTurnerBook Excerpts

Book Excerpts

Akbar’s treasury held glass vessels worth Rs 25 lakh. It came from Firozabad

In 'Mughal Glass', Tara Desjardin traces the history of glass production under Mughal rule, which has lacked academic attention so far.

Why an East India Company job changed this family’s name from Sankalia to Killavalla

In ‘The Other Mohan’, Amrita Shah tells the story of Indian migration through the journey of her great-grandfather from Bombay to South Africa in the early 1900s.

A tree on India-Pakistan border is a tourist magnet. It’s a Peepal that swallowed a pillar

In ‘Iconic Trees of India’, S Natesh tells the stories of 75 living trees. From the oldest Chinar in Kashmir to the speaking fig tree in the Andaman jail.

When Mohinder Amarnath called national selectors ‘a bunch of jokers’ & slept peacefully

‘Fearless’ is a forthright and anecdotal memoir of cricketer Mohinder Amarnath written by him with his brother Rajender Amarnath.

Why Jews fought for separate statehood for Cochin

In ‘Cochin’, MK Das chronicles the history of the small port town in Kerala. From the Dutch, Portuguese, British rule to present-day Communism.

Soft power: A short history of the iconic Nehru jacket

The Nehru jacket became popular in the West in the 1960s due to Jawaharlal Nehru’s visibility as a political figure.

Rajesh Khanna & Dimple Kapadia set the wedding video aesthetic. Delhi couples lapped it up

Ishita Tiwary's 'Video Culture in India: The Analog Era' is one of the first books to explore the diverse media history of the analog video era in India.

West tried to colonise Nicobar for a century—most missions failed within a year

Keshav Chandra's 'When the Turquoise Waters Turned Dark' provides a fresh perspective on the colonial history of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

OxyContin was Sacklers’ ticket to the moon. It set the opioid epidemic in motion

In 'Revenge of the Tipping Point', Malcolm Gladwell traces the rise of a new form of social engineering with vivid, real-world examples.

America walking away from free trade—Trump, Biden poked holes in 4 core elements since 2017

In 'Walking Out', Michal L Beeman explores America's new trade policy choices in the Asia Pacific and beyond.

On Camera

Jamaat sweeps Bangladesh students’ polls, wants Pakistan as an ally. India must worry

Banned only a year before when Hasina was still the PM, the student wing secured 14 top ranks at the educational institution.

Market regulator SEBI clears Adani Group of impropriety alleged by Hindenburg Research

SEBI probe concluded that purported loans and fund transfers were paid back in full and did not amount to deceptive market practices or unreported related party transactions.

‘Attack on one is attack on both’—As Pakistan & Saudi Arabia sign pact, a look at their ties since 1967

Building on long-standing ties & Islamic solidarity, Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement comes at a time of heightened regional tensions especially after Israeli attack on Doha.

Gen Zs have taken down the Nepal regime. Here’s why this will never happen in India

To be truly functional and durable, even eternal, a state doesn’t just need a leader, a party or an ideology. It needs functional and robust institutions.