On Monday 12 Jan 2009 7:27:02 pm Udhay Shankar N wrote: > I'm trying to get some recommendations, and further disturb the balance > of the TBR pile on my shelves. What were the best books you read last year? > > Udhay
1) The Shadow of the Great Game - the untold story of India's partition - Narendra Singh Sarila http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Great-Game-Untold-Partition/dp/0786719125/ref=sr_1_1/189-7010103-7031336?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231899686&sr=1-1 2) The Great Arc: The Dramatic Tale of How India was Mapped and Everest was Named - John Keay http://www.amazon.com/Great-Arc-Dramatic-Mapped-Everest/dp/0060195185 3) Trespassers on the Roof of the World: The Secret Exploration of Tibet - Peter Hopkirk http://www.amazon.com/Trespassers-Roof-World-Exploration-Kodansha/dp/1568360509/ref=sr_1_1/189-9734192-6944505?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231900642&sr=1-1 4) The Tejas Story: The Light Combat Aircraft Project - Air Marshal Philip Rajkumar http://www.amazon.com/Tejas-Story-Combat-Aircraft-Project/dp/8173047642/ref=sr_1_2/180-1331383-4817120?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231900776&sr=1-2 5) Thanks to Udhay - "Maximum City" - Suketu Mehta http://www.amazon.com/Maximum-City-Bombay-Lost-Found/dp/0375703403/ref=sr_1_1/183-6021350-5882961?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231901154&sr=1-1 I must admit I found Ram Guha's "India After Gandhi" an exceedingly boring read. It is full of facts but dry and uninspiring as an old shoe. Anaesthetic is a better word than soporific here. Contrast that with the second book in my list above " The Great Arc: The Dramatic Tale of How India was Mapped and Everest was Named ". This book merely documents the trigonometrical traingulation of India starting from sea level at Madras all the way across India up to Mount Everest. It reads like a thriller and is un-putdownable. Writing skills are such a precious gift, and Ram Guha is yet to get there. shiv
