Before the Great War was the Great Game, fought between Victorian Britain and Tsarist Russia across continents and kingdoms. Peter Hopkirk does a great job of making history accessible, recreating episodes and context for the reader.
The book combines a bunch of subjects ranging from history and geopolitics to economics, network theory and cliodynamics (itself a transdisciplinary area) viewed through the lens of catastrophe and decision-making. What makes it worth a read is a rich dose of history and specifically disaster (mis)management, but what I missed was a narrative structure.
The book is more than a decade old, but it does a couple of things well – provide an introduction and in a way, synopsis of Chomsky’s worldview, and do that in an engaging manner because this is based on media interactions. The book was published in 2011, and while the topics might seem dated, the beauty is that his insights are timeless.
In addition to the familiar themes of rogue capitalism and class prejudices, we now have the conversion of India from a democracy to a fascist state. The book has nine essays that cover recurring topics – Kashmir, NRC, CAA, RSS – all of which hold a mirror to those of us who can afford to live in bubbles. And yes, the Azadi here is not from India, but in India.
Tony Joseph uses archaeology, genetics and linguistics to provide a clear understanding of two questions – “Who are we Indians? Where did we come from?” I’d highly recommend reading this, even if it’s just to counter “history” lessons on WhatsApp university!