Subscribe to our newsletter and be the first to access exclusive content and expert insights.

subscribe now subscribe cover image
Arshia Dhar profile image Arshia Dhar Published on

From the secrets of the Opium War that hold the key to global economies, to probes on the Bangladesh Liberation War, the titles this month pack a serious punch

These 5 new books will take you back in time and space

From the secrets of the First Opium War that hold the key to major global economies even today, to investigations on the Bangladesh Liberation War, the titles out this month pack a serious punch

For bibliophiles, July promises to be an interesting month with a host of writers dabbling in non-fiction (and some fiction) that maps out political and cultural landscapes of countries through decades and terrains less explored.

India’s Secret War: BSF and Nine Months to the Birth of Bangladesh by Ushinor MajumdarThis book is the first detailed, public telling of how India, through the Border Security Force (BSF) fought alongside the regular and irregular forces of Bangladesh, which was a mandate beyond just guarding the borders. The BSF did not only employ guns, they also reached out to the Awami league leaders, met with the Indian Prime Minister, and ultimately, heavily assisted in setting up the first and exiled democratic government of Bangladesh. Clearly, there are thousands of smaller acts of resistance during the struggle for liberation, and the Bangladesh Liberation War is dotted with such stories where India partook in these acts, all of which have been recorded, but till now, largely remained a secret, gathering dust in the BSF’s archives.Publisher: Penguin Random House India

India’s Secret War: BSF and Nine Months to the Birth of Bangladesh by Ushinor Majumdar

This book is the first detailed, public telling of how India, through the Border Security Force (BSF) fought alongside the regular and irregular forces of Bangladesh, which was a mandate beyond just guarding the borders. The BSF did not only employ guns, they also reached out to the Awami league leaders, met with the Indian Prime Minister, and ultimately, heavily assisted in setting up the first and exiled democratic government of Bangladesh. Clearly, there are thousands of smaller acts of resistance during the struggle for liberation, and the Bangladesh Liberation War is dotted with such stories where India partook in these acts, all of which have been recorded, but till now, largely remained a secret, gathering dust in the BSF’s archives.
Publisher: Penguin Random House India

Smoke and Ashes: A Writer’s Journey Through Opium’s Hidden Histories by Amitav GhoshSmoke and Ashes is part travelogue and part memoir, where Amitav Ghosh travels through the annals of history—both economic and cultural—to investigate the transformative effect the opium trade had on Britain, India and China, as well as on the world. Engineered by the British Empire, which exported opium from India to sell in China, the plant’s seed was essential to the Empire's survival. Upon deeper inquiry, Ghosh finds this plant at the origins of some of the world's biggest corporations, including many run by America's most powerful families and institutions. In India, the long-term consequences of this colonial era trade were far more profound.Publisher: HarperCollins India

Smoke and Ashes: A Writer’s Journey Through Opium’s Hidden Histories by Amitav Ghosh

Smoke and Ashes is part travelogue and part memoir, where Amitav Ghosh travels through the annals of history—both economic and cultural—to investigate the transformative effect the opium trade had on Britain, India and China, as well as on the world. Engineered by the British Empire, which exported opium from India to sell in China, the plant’s seed was essential to the Empire's survival. Upon deeper inquiry, Ghosh finds this plant at the origins of some of the world's biggest corporations, including many run by America's most powerful families and institutions. In India, the long-term consequences of this colonial era trade were far more profound.
Publisher: HarperCollins India

Rethinking India: Dreams of a Healthy India, Democratic Healthcare in Post-COVID Times by Syeda Hameed and Ritu PriyaDreams of a Healthy India examines the state of health care in India, and ways to democratise it with more accessible design elements. It features the opinions of some of the foremost experts in the health field, digesting the issues of health care systems for its readers, and simultaneously encouraging a reassessment on several important dimensions through writings by policymakers, practitioners and academics. This volume showcases how an indigenously developed health-care system, based on public-community partnerships and respect for the plurality of needs, experiences and knowledge, can generate fair and robust health care for every Indian.Publisher: Penguin Random House India

Rethinking India: Dreams of a Healthy India, Democratic Healthcare in Post-COVID Times by Syeda Hameed and Ritu Priya

Dreams of a Healthy India examines the state of health care in India, and ways to democratise it with more accessible design elements. It features the opinions of some of the foremost experts in the health field, digesting the issues of health care systems for its readers, and simultaneously encouraging a reassessment on several important dimensions through writings by policymakers, practitioners and academics. This volume showcases how an indigenously developed health-care system, based on public-community partnerships and respect for the plurality of needs, experiences and knowledge, can generate fair and robust health care for every Indian.

Publisher: Penguin Random House India

Quarterlife: A Novel by Devika RegeThis novel by Devika Rege is built like a political bildungsroman, where it begins with The Bharat Party coming to power in India after a highly divisive election. Naren, a weary Wall Street consultant, is suddenly enthusiastic about returning to Mumbai after learning about their economic mandate. With him is Amanda, who is keen to escape her New England town through a teaching fellowship in a Muslim-majority slum. On the other hand, Naren’s younger brother Rohit sets out to find out more about his cultural roots in the country’s heartland, where he ends up forging friendships with the young men who feed off the Hindu nationalist machine.From identity politics to corporate greed to the confines of idealism, each character in this novel embodies a hypothesis. As they are in the throes of the new media, they also become aware of a deeply fraught and complex milieu. The result is an ever-expanding story that marches towards a festive night when all of Mumbai is on the streets, and a latent unrest erupts.Publisher: HarperCollins India

Quarterlife: A Novel by Devika Rege

This novel by Devika Rege is built like a political bildungsroman, where it begins with The Bharat Party coming to power in India after a highly divisive election. Naren, a weary Wall Street consultant, is suddenly enthusiastic about returning to Mumbai after learning about their economic mandate. With him is Amanda, who is keen to escape her New England town through a teaching fellowship in a Muslim-majority slum. On the other hand, Naren’s younger brother Rohit sets out to find out more about his cultural roots in the country’s heartland, where he ends up forging friendships with the young men who feed off the Hindu nationalist machine.

From identity politics to corporate greed to the confines of idealism, each character in this novel embodies a hypothesis. As they are in the throes of the new media, they also become aware of a deeply fraught and complex milieu. The result is an ever-expanding story that marches towards a festive night when all of Mumbai is on the streets, and a latent unrest erupts.
Publisher: HarperCollins India

The Inheritors: An Intimate Portrait of South Africa’s Racial Reckoning by Eve FairbanksOver a decade in the making, The Inheritors tells the stories of three ordinary South Africans over five tumultuous decades in a sweeping and intriguing insight into what really happens when a country resolves to end white supremacy.It is the tale of a country coping with a great reckoning. Through the lives of Dipuo, her daughter Malaika, and Christo—one of the last white South Africans appointed to fight for the apartheid regime—award-winning journalist Eve Fairbanks takes a deeper look at what happens when the sociopolitical status quo is dismantled. Studying subtle truths about race and power that extend well beyond national borders, she asks questions that preoccupy so many of us today: How can we let go of our pasts, as individuals and as a collective? How should historical debts be paid? And how can a person live a respectable life in a society that—for better or worse—they no longer identify with?Publisher: Simon & Schuster

The Inheritors: An Intimate Portrait of South Africa’s Racial Reckoning by Eve Fairbanks

Over a decade in the making, The Inheritors tells the stories of three ordinary South Africans over five tumultuous decades in a sweeping and intriguing insight into what really happens when a country resolves to end white supremacy.

It is the tale of a country coping with a great reckoning. Through the lives of Dipuo, her daughter Malaika, and Christo—one of the last white South Africans appointed to fight for the apartheid regime—award-winning journalist Eve Fairbanks takes a deeper look at what happens when the sociopolitical status quo is dismantled. Studying subtle truths about race and power that extend well beyond national borders, she asks questions that preoccupy so many of us today: How can we let go of our pasts, as individuals and as a collective? How should historical debts be paid? And how can a person live a respectable life in a society that—for better or worse—they no longer identify with?
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Also Read: 5 new books that will make you slow down

Also Read: 5 books that take you from Partition to modern-day India

Also Read: 10 business books you need to read

Read Next

Subscribe for More

Subscribe to our newsletter and be the first to access exclusive content and expert insights.

subscribe now
subscribe cover image