India

Shashi Tharoor, in his book Pax Indica: India and the World of the 21st Century, highlights the requirement and importance to move from the Nehru's era of "Non alignment" to the 21st century era of "Multi-alignment," which covers the working of the Ministry of External Affairs, the parliament and the public opinion, since the Independence. It is inspiring and gives a portrait of India being ready to take a global position in the new millennium. This book is another substantial achievement by one of the finest Indian authors. 

In this explosive book, best-selling author Shashi Tharoor reveals with acuity, impeccable research, and trademark wit, just how disastrous British rule was for India. Besides examining the many ways in which the colonizers exploited India, he demolishes the arguments of Western and Indian apologists for Empire on the supposed benefits of British rule.

For more than four decades after gaining independence, India, with its massive size and population, staggering poverty and slow rate of growth, was associated with the plodding, somnolent elephant, comfortably resting on its achievements of centuries gone by. Then, in the early 1990s, the elephant seemed to wake up from its slumber and slowly begin to change - until today, in the first decade of the 21st century, some have begun to see it morphing into a tiger. As India turns 60, Shashi Tharoor, novelist and essayist, reminds us of the paradox that is India.

There are signs that the nation is moving in directions that will benefit its people - the economy has begun to revive, its foreign policy appears to be purposefully pursuing a visible place in the world, and polls show that a significant percentage of the nation's youth are optimistic about the future. At the same time, there are serious concerns about the rise of majoritarianism and religious fundamentalism (often, this is one and the same thing) and a disquieting intolerance of free speech, dissent and religious freedom.

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Inglorious Empire written and read by Shashi Tharoor. In the 18th century, India's share of the world economy was as large as Europe's. By 1947, after two centuries of British rule, it had decreased six-fold. The Empire blew rebels from cannon, massacred unarmed protesters, entrenched institutionalised racism and caused millions to die from starvation.

A major new collection of essays by Ramachandra Guha, Democrats and Dissenters is a work of rigorous scholarship on topics of compelling contemporary interest, written with elegance and wit. The audiobook covers a wide range of themes: from the varying national projects of India's neighbors to political debates within India itself, from the responsibilities of writers to the complex relationship between democracy and violence. 

Romila Thapar is one of the most important indian academics writing today. Well-researched and thoroughly accessible, this volume is sure to become essential listening for those interested in Indian history and religion. It includes her experience of writing history textbooks for school, analysis of ancient history and interpretations of the epics, and the role history plays in contemporary politics.

Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was one of the most remarkable figures in the 20th century. Born an Untouchable - the lowest element of Indian society deemed to be outside the caste system, and literally 'untouchable' - he rose from abject village poverty to become the architect of the new Constitution of India following its independence from Britain in 1947. A combination of exceptional talent, hard work and determination, vision and luck took him to Harvard and the LSE, and then back to his home country.

Beyond race or class, our lives are defined by a powerful, unspoken system of divisions. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson gives an astounding portrait of this hidden phenomenon. Linking America, India and Nazi Germany, Wilkerson reveals how our world has been shaped by caste - and how its rigid, arbitrary hierarchies still divide us today. With clear-sighted rigour, Wilkerson unearths the eight pillars that connect caste systems across civilisations and demonstrates how our own era of intensifying conflict and upheaval has arisen as a consequence of caste.

The Anarchy tells the remarkable story of how one of the world’s most magnificent empires disintegrated and came to be replaced by a dangerously unregulated private company, based thousands of miles overseas in one small office, five windows wide, and answerable only to its distant shareholders. In his most ambitious and riveting audiobook to date, William Dalrymple tells the story of the East India Company as it has never been told before, unfolding a timely cautionary tale of the first global corporate power.

India's armed forces play a key role in protecting the country and occupy a special place in the Indian people's hearts, yet standard accounts of contemporary Indian history rarely have a military dimension. In India's Wars, serving Air Vice Marshal Arjun Subramaniam seeks to rectify that oversight by giving India's military exploits their rightful place in history.  

Hindus have one God. They also have 330 million gods: male gods; female gods; personal gods; family gods; household gods; village gods; gods of space and time; gods for specific castes and particular professions; gods who reside in trees; in animals; in minerals; in geometrical patterns and in man-made objects. Then there are a whole host of demons. But no Devil.

A definitive, analytical and meticulous account of the present state of the nation - from a constitutional perspective - by one of India’s most respected legal luminaries. An ardent defender of the Constitution of India, Fali Nariman has today attained the status of an outstanding lawyer who strongly believes in the rule of the law and stands by his convictions. In this timely volume, the author highlights crucial issues that the legislature, the executive, judiciary, the bar and the common people have to deal with virtually on a day-to-day basis.

One of Jane Austen’s most beloved works, Pride and Prejudice, is vividly brought to life by Academy Award nominee Rosamund Pike ( Gone Girl). In her bright and energetic performance of this British classic, she expertly captures Austen’s signature wit and tone. Her attention to detail, her literary background, and her performance in the 2005 feature film version of the novel provide the perfect foundation from which to convey the story of Elizabeth Bennet, her four sisters, and the inimitable Mr. Darcy.

Sapiens showed us where we came from. Homo Deus looked to the future. 21 Lessons for the 21st Century explores the present. How can we protect ourselves from nuclear war, ecological cataclysms and technological disruptions? What can we do about the epidemic of fake news or the threat of terrorism? What should we teach our children? Yuval Noah Harari takes us on a thrilling journey through today’s most urgent issues.