Book reviews by Himadri Bose https://readingsandreflections.in/index.html2026-10-01T00:00:00ZHimadri Bose https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/protracted-contest.html2026-10-01T00:00:00Z

A foundational history of the India–China rivalry that looks well beyond 1962, to Tibet, Pakistan and the contest for influence across Asia; dated in places, but still essential.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/the-golden-road.html2026-09-01T00:00:00Z

A valuable corrective to Eurocentric history, best read as a call to restore India's place in the ancient world.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/command-in-war.html2026-07-01T00:00:00Z

A classic that recasts command as the management of uncertainty, still shaping doctrine forty years on.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/another-india.html2026-06-01T00:00:00Z

A rigorous, thought-provoking study of India's Muslims after Partition, if light on regional differences.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/at-dawn-we-slept.html2026-05-01T00:00:00Z

The definitive single-volume study of Pearl Harbor; exhaustive, at times excessively so.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/the-pashtuns.html2026-03-01T00:00:00Z

A clear, worthy starting point on the people at the heart of the Af-Pak frontier.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/longitude.html2026-01-01T00:00:00Z

A modern classic on precision, perseverance and the uneven path of recognition.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/the-biology-of-belief.html2025-12-01T00:00:00Z

Inspiring and humane, but to be read with critical awareness rather than as hard science.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/on-intelligence.html2025-11-01T00:00:00Z

An authoritative, engaging history of espionage by a scholar-practitioner.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/china.html2025-10-01T00:00:00Z

Four thousand years in one dense, rewarding volume, though light on social history.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/shattered-lands.html2025-09-01T00:00:00Z

A vivid, sobering account of how Partition's history still shadows South Asian politics.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/dethroned.html2025-07-01T00:00:00Z

A very fine account of how the princely states were absorbed into the Indian Union.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/nexus.html2025-06-01T00:00:00Z

A vast canvas and an eventful past, but a dystopian, one-sided view of AI and a weak ending.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/a-new-history-of-india.html2025-05-01T00:00:00Z

A decent primer with a limited lens; ambitious in span but thin in argument.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/ambedkar.html2025-05-01T00:00:00Z

A beautifully written, balanced assessment of Ambedkar's life and legacy. Tharoor succeeds in every way.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/co-intelligence.html2025-03-01T00:00:00Z

A must-read on working alongside AI: curiosity, flexibility and responsibility are the new fundamentals.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/the-art-of-military-innovation.html2025-03-01T00:00:00Z

Gripping and insightful, though its lessons are rooted in Israel's particular circumstances.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/power-and-progress.html2025-02-01T00:00:00Z

Thought-provoking and engaging, though its limitations drag the central thesis down.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-third-reich.html2025-02-01T00:00:00Z

Demanding but essential: an unparalleled understanding of the Nazi regime.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/how-prime-ministers-decide.html2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

An engaging ringside view of prime-ministerial politics, stronger on anecdote than on how decisions are made.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/to-rule-the-waves.html2025-01-01T00:00:00Z

Breadth over depth: limited for specialists, but an invaluable primer on sea power and global stability.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/how-tyrants-fall.html2024-12-01T00:00:00Z

An exceptional work on the fragility of authoritarian rule and the power of peaceful, organised resistance.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/strategic-choices-ethical-dilemmas.html2024-12-01T00:00:00Z

A satisfactory read on ethics in strategy, but thin on its application to geopolitics.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/the-cold-war.html2024-11-01T00:00:00Z

An exceptional, comprehensive resource on the Cold War's global reach and cost.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/why-we-die.html2024-10-01T00:00:00Z

A clear guide to the science of ageing; some grounding in biology helps.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/maos-army-goes-to-sea.html2024-09-01T00:00:00Z

A very well-researched account of the PLA Navy's little-known beginnings. Highly recommended.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/what-went-wrong-with-capitalism.html2024-09-01T00:00:00Z

A thought-provoking questioning of capitalism as we see it today.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/world-on-the-brink.html2024-09-01T00:00:00Z

A well-researched, clear-eyed assessment of the options for countering a rising China.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/the-promise-of-power.html2024-08-01T00:00:00Z

Illuminating and enjoyable on why India's democracy took root and Pakistan's did not.

https://readingsandreflections.in/reviews/the-return-of-the-taliban.html2024-08-01T00:00:00Z

Well researched and insightful, with sharp questions on how the world should deal with the Taliban.