Book Review: Brief Answers to the Big Questions by Stephen Hawking

Brief Answers to Big Questions has been drawn from the personal archive of Stephen Hawking. It was in progress when Hawking passed away. Hawking’s academic colleagues, his family and the Stephen Hawking Estate helped in compilation of the book. In total there are ten questions which Hawking addresses in the book.  In the first chapter about the existence of God, the author says that his work is about finding a rational framework to understand...

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Book Review: Savage Frontier- A History of the Anglo-Afghan Wars by D.S. Richards

First published in 1990, and the later edition of 2003 of this book is what I read. Richards was a RAF navigator in the second world war. He developed an interest in military history and this book of his is an account of the British Indian Army’s struggle against the enemies on the frontier region. Richards tries to cover various important events from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The various campaigns of the British in fighting,...

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Book Review: The Idea of History Through Ages by Tahir Kamran

Tahir Kamran, the author of this book helps the reader understand important aspects of historiography. Various theoretical forms are discussed in this work. In the introduction of this book history as a subject is discussed. Whether history is a science or art is debated. The historical method of history is given which divides into a). Preliminaries, b). Analytical method and c). Synthetic method. Detailed classification of historical evidence...

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Book Review: Being Pakistani- Society, Culture and the Arts by Raza Rumi

Being Pakistani is a compilation of articles by Raza Rumi that addresses topics related to devotion, literature, arts and personal experiences. Rumi writes about Sufis, legends related the Indus region and cult of the feminine in Sindh province. Moving on to literature, the author writes about Qurratilain Hyder, Manto, Intizar Hussain, Fehmida Riaz and Mustafa Zaidi. Rumi tries to bring out a new understanding embedded in the writing of these...

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Book Review: Seven Years in Tibet By Heinrich Harrer

Seven Years in Tibet is a very powerful and adventurous story of by an Austrian mountaineer. Heinrich Harrer, the author of this book was in the Himalayas attempting the infamous Nanga Parbat mountain, when the second world war broke out. Due to his nationality he was jailed in India. After two failed attempts he finally made it in his third attempt and escaped into Tibet. His hardships including hunger, hiding from wild animals, traveling...

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