Tigerland and Other Unintended Destinations
Eric Dinerstein
Published by Universities Press
“With species going extinct at the rate of one hundred per day, the chapters that follow could easily be advertised as a lament to the end of nature…”writes Eric Dinerstein in the introduction,”… Instead, this book offers a more hopeful vision of what success would look like in various ecoregions if the dreams of conservation-minded biologists came true.” How important hope and faith are! Without these we would simply stop trying to save wildlife, considering its disappearance inevitable.
In each chapter we meet people working to protect the wildlife of the world, people who prove that individuals can make a difference. His writing is laced with humour – this is humour of the flavour of that draws a quick smile or a quiet chuckle, rather than a guffaw or a long-drawn laugh. The book does describe the hopeful vision of success in various eco-regions that it promises…. …a good read ….
Kumaran Sathasivan
THE HINDU, 22 January 2008
Growth Divergences
Growth Divergences: Explaining Differences in Economic Performance
Edited by Jose Antonio Ocampo, Jomo K.S. and Rob Vos
Published by Orient Longman, Zed Books and Third World Network in association with the United Nations.
Unlike the 1950s and 1960s, when the rising tide of economic growth lifted most economies, the last three decades have been characterised by a paradox of greater international economic integration as well as divergent economic growth performances.
This volume of analytical studies seeks to explain these major differences in economic performance in recent decades by considering the dynamics of international economic growth, diverging growth rates, economic structures, and sources of demand, successes and collapses in the developing world, recent episodes of real income stagnation in countries. Several chapters critically review recent misleading claims and the conventional wisdom regarding the relationship of trade liberalisation, financial development, development, aid, infrastructure spending, violent conflict, good governance and industrial policy to economic growth.
THE HINDU, 29 April 2008
Edited by Jose Antonio Ocampo, Jomo K.S. and Rob Vos
Published by Orient Longman, Zed Books and Third World Network in association with the United Nations.
Unlike the 1950s and 1960s, when the rising tide of economic growth lifted most economies, the last three decades have been characterised by a paradox of greater international economic integration as well as divergent economic growth performances.
This volume of analytical studies seeks to explain these major differences in economic performance in recent decades by considering the dynamics of international economic growth, diverging growth rates, economic structures, and sources of demand, successes and collapses in the developing world, recent episodes of real income stagnation in countries. Several chapters critically review recent misleading claims and the conventional wisdom regarding the relationship of trade liberalisation, financial development, development, aid, infrastructure spending, violent conflict, good governance and industrial policy to economic growth.
THE HINDU, 29 April 2008
Yuganta
Yuganta
Irawati Karve
Published by Orient Longman
The Sahitya Akademi award-winning Yuganta by Irawati Karve, [has been recently] published by Orient Longman in a new edition. The moral dilemmas, the emotional complexities, made most accessible by the wonderful writing style of Irawati Karwe—the book was originally written in Marathi and translated by her into English. There is much to learn from the book and from the persuasive analysis and interpretation offered by Karwe.
Excerpts from a blog run by ‘Scholars without Borders’, who teach and study at the Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Irawati Karve
Published by Orient Longman
The Sahitya Akademi award-winning Yuganta by Irawati Karve, [has been recently] published by Orient Longman in a new edition. The moral dilemmas, the emotional complexities, made most accessible by the wonderful writing style of Irawati Karwe—the book was originally written in Marathi and translated by her into English. There is much to learn from the book and from the persuasive analysis and interpretation offered by Karwe.
Excerpts from a blog run by ‘Scholars without Borders’, who teach and study at the Jawaharlal Nehru University.
What is not here is nowhere else
The Mahabharata
Chaturvedi Badrinath
Published by Orient Longman
This book is a scholarly treatise on the subject of Indian philosophy and is also written by one of its foremost and most well-known proponents. Chaturvedi Badrinath shows that the Mahabharata is the most systematic inquiry into the human condition. Its principal concern is the relationship of the self with the self and with the other. This book not only proves the universality of the themes explored in the Mahabharata, but also how this great epic provides us with a method to understand the human condition itself.
Excerpts from a blog run by ‘Scholars without Borders’, who teach and study at the Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Chaturvedi Badrinath
Published by Orient Longman
This book is a scholarly treatise on the subject of Indian philosophy and is also written by one of its foremost and most well-known proponents. Chaturvedi Badrinath shows that the Mahabharata is the most systematic inquiry into the human condition. Its principal concern is the relationship of the self with the self and with the other. This book not only proves the universality of the themes explored in the Mahabharata, but also how this great epic provides us with a method to understand the human condition itself.
Excerpts from a blog run by ‘Scholars without Borders’, who teach and study at the Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Reflecting on Our Past - Economic History of a Princely State
Hyderabad: The Social Context of Industrialisation 1875 to 1948
C. V. Subba Rao
Published by Orient Longman
This is a slim and easily readable volume tracing the economic history of the princely State of Hyderabad from 1875 to 1948. This is the period in which the Asaf Jahi dynasty ruled the state. As is well-known, this reign came to an end in September 1948 when the Indian Army entered the state and it became part of the Indian Union. The author uses succinct prose while the supporting abstracts and tables run even longer than the main text. It is a scholarly exercise taken up against the type of odds faced by all economic historians documenting the evolution of industrialization of in the princely States of British India in which the data base was imperfect and the governments, given to oral traditions did not maintain systematic records. In this context the work is still quite authentic with an empirical base, having drawn upon significant primary and secondary sources of data and information.
Whatever be the merits of the conclusions in the book on the interplay of economic and social forces, the book itself is a clear labour of intensity and commitment and would fill voids in the current knowledge of the economic history of princely states like Hyderabad.
R. Rajamani
THE BOOK REVIEW/ April 2008
C. V. Subba Rao
Published by Orient Longman
This is a slim and easily readable volume tracing the economic history of the princely State of Hyderabad from 1875 to 1948. This is the period in which the Asaf Jahi dynasty ruled the state. As is well-known, this reign came to an end in September 1948 when the Indian Army entered the state and it became part of the Indian Union. The author uses succinct prose while the supporting abstracts and tables run even longer than the main text. It is a scholarly exercise taken up against the type of odds faced by all economic historians documenting the evolution of industrialization of in the princely States of British India in which the data base was imperfect and the governments, given to oral traditions did not maintain systematic records. In this context the work is still quite authentic with an empirical base, having drawn upon significant primary and secondary sources of data and information.
Whatever be the merits of the conclusions in the book on the interplay of economic and social forces, the book itself is a clear labour of intensity and commitment and would fill voids in the current knowledge of the economic history of princely states like Hyderabad.
R. Rajamani
THE BOOK REVIEW/ April 2008
Review of The Legacy of Susruta
The Legacy of Susruta
M. S. Valiathan
Published by Orient Longman
M. S. Valiathan’s new book on the Suśrutasamhita has been constructed on the same principles as his The legacy of Caraka published for the first time in 2004. The contents of the Samhita are rearranged in fifteen sections and eighty-seven chapters by collecting the material on particular subjects usually found scattered in the original treatise. Most chapters are therefore composite as can easily be ascertained by consulting the references at the end of each. Several chapters on particular diseases, for example, derive the text from the Nidanasthana (aetiology, symptomatology, etc.) and the Cikitsasthana (treatment). The position of the sthanas themselves has also been reorganized. The Śarirasthana, for example, ahs been moved towards the end.
Recapitulating briefly my impressions, Valiathan’s new book on the Suśrutasamhita is a valuable addition to the already existing translations by bringing together related but scattered information and by presenting complex material in tables.
G. J. Meulenbeld, Bedum, The Netherlands MEDICAL HISTORY, April 2008, 52 (2)
M. S. Valiathan
Published by Orient Longman
M. S. Valiathan’s new book on the Suśrutasamhita has been constructed on the same principles as his The legacy of Caraka published for the first time in 2004. The contents of the Samhita are rearranged in fifteen sections and eighty-seven chapters by collecting the material on particular subjects usually found scattered in the original treatise. Most chapters are therefore composite as can easily be ascertained by consulting the references at the end of each. Several chapters on particular diseases, for example, derive the text from the Nidanasthana (aetiology, symptomatology, etc.) and the Cikitsasthana (treatment). The position of the sthanas themselves has also been reorganized. The Śarirasthana, for example, ahs been moved towards the end.
Recapitulating briefly my impressions, Valiathan’s new book on the Suśrutasamhita is a valuable addition to the already existing translations by bringing together related but scattered information and by presenting complex material in tables.
G. J. Meulenbeld, Bedum, The Netherlands MEDICAL HISTORY, April 2008, 52 (2)
Review of Sanjoy Bhattacharya’s Expunging Variola: The Control and Eradication of Smallpox in India 1947 – 1977
Expunging Variola: The Control and Eradication of Smallpox in India 1947 – 1977
Sanjoy Bhattacharya
Published by Orient Longman
Expunging Variola is a serious and important book. This ‘nuanced history’ (p 7) enriches our understanding of the eradication of smallpox in India which went a long way to ensuring global eradication of smallpox in 1979. However, its true value outstrips a better understanding of local history. Its far greater value lies in what it teaches about human endeavour in the health field. Removing health inequalities is not easily or simply achieved. Having a good policy and programme is not good enough to ensure success. One has to be willing to communicate, negotiate, evaluate, redesign and persist. Health professionals, bureaucrats and politicians would do well to read this book and savour its message.
Mary Ditton, University of New England, Australia
CONTEMPORARY SOUTH ASIA 16(1) (March 2008)
Sanjoy Bhattacharya
Published by Orient Longman
Expunging Variola is a serious and important book. This ‘nuanced history’ (p 7) enriches our understanding of the eradication of smallpox in India which went a long way to ensuring global eradication of smallpox in 1979. However, its true value outstrips a better understanding of local history. Its far greater value lies in what it teaches about human endeavour in the health field. Removing health inequalities is not easily or simply achieved. Having a good policy and programme is not good enough to ensure success. One has to be willing to communicate, negotiate, evaluate, redesign and persist. Health professionals, bureaucrats and politicians would do well to read this book and savour its message.
Mary Ditton, University of New England, Australia
CONTEMPORARY SOUTH ASIA 16(1) (March 2008)
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