Book Review: Ali Baba: The House that Jack Ma Built by Duncan Clark

Duncan Clark provides an account of the world of Jack Ma, one of the leading figures in the present economy of China. Jack Ma built one of the largest companies of the world. An American tourist give him the name 'Jack.' His original name is Ma Yun.Jack took the Gaokao. In China it is seen as the most challenging exam in which high school students appear for a merit based exam for higher education. Jack badly failed in the exam. scoring 1/120...

Read More

Book Review: Dongri to Dubai: Six Decades of the Mumbai Mafia by S. Hussain Zaidi

In Dongri to Dubai, Zaidi has made a commendable effort in engaging the reader in very chapter of the book. The book presents numerous stories beautifully weaved by the author. It primarily focuses on the rise of Dawood Ibrahim. Starting from his childhood it shows how Dawood entered the world of crime. Dawood loved cricket. He dropped out of school when he was only ten (p. 51). When Dawood gained power he used the cops to decimate his rivals.Zaidi...

Read More

Book Review: Xi Jinping's Governance and the Future of China by Zhou Xinmin

In this book review I cover some of the points which I find interesting. As soon as Xi took office he showed a strong commitment to solve the fundamental problems of China. Zhou, the author of this book states that the unity of knowledge and practice is a cornerstone of the Marxist theory of knowledge- a basic principle and methodology of dialectical materialism.  He believes that Xi Jinping has put emphasis on practice, stressing theoretical...

Read More

Book Review: MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed Bin Salman by Ben Hubbard

In mid 1700s one of the ancestors of MBS named Mohammed Ibn Saud made the first attempt to create a Saudi proto-state around his native village of Diriyah. Mohammed got an edge by forming an alliance with the fundamentalist cleric named Sheikh Mohammed Ibn Abdul-Wahab (p. 5). The kingdom of Saudi Arabia was declared in 1932 and the discovery of oil took place in 1938.When MBS was growing up he saw who mattered in which tribe and the positions of...

Read More

Book Review: The Luminous Life of Rajiv Gandhi (Edited by Shyam Dua)

Rajiv Gandhi was the grandson of Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India. Rajiv's father was Feroze Gandhi and his mother was Indira. Both of them moved to New Delhi from Lucknow. Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984. To avoid being jailed for corrupt election practices in June 1975, she had declared a state of emergency and brought democracy to a halt. She launched a crackdown on civil liberties and political opposition. She served as the...

Read More

Book Review: Beyond the Gorges of the Indus: Archaeology before Excavation by Karl Jettmar

Karl Jettmar retired from the University of Heidelberg in 1986. He was an expert in the field of Central Asian Anthropology, archaeology, and art history. This book not only bring out the ancient history of the Northern Areas of Pakistan, but it also an appeal for the conduct of archaeological excavations. Between 1954 and 1989, various expeditions to the Trans-Himalayan zone allowed Jettmar to acquire unique and intimate knowledge regarding the...

Read More

Book Review: Letters by Maxim Gorky

Maxim Gorky, one the famous Russian writers left around 20,000 letters for his readers. 13,000 of which were written to him only by Soviet writers. This book presents more than 100 letters of Gorky written between 1889 and 1936. It also includes material which Soviet publishers have issued few years before the publication of the book. Various aspects of life in Russia, Europe and America of the first three decades of the...

Read More