Don’t be misled by the subtitle

Tulsi leaves and the ganges water: The slogan of the first sepoy mutiny at barrackpore 1824 By Premansu Kumar Bandyopadhyay, K.P. Bagchi, Rs 400

Barrackpore, under the raj, had a strange propensity to attract mutineers. The most famous of them was, of course, Mangal Pandey who gave the mutineers of 1857 the name the sahibs called them by — Pandies. But even before 1857, the cantonment town, a few miles up-river from Calcutta, had been the site of another major mutiny in 1824. This book is a study of that event even though its subtitle is utterly misleading. The subtitle only explicates the title but doesn’t tell readers what the book is about. The 1824 mutiny is not as well-known as the 1857 one, but was, in some ways, more serious. Mangal Pandey was alone in his actions. No sepoy, save one, came out to help Mangal Pandey — most of them stood around looking disconsolate. If the Meerut mutiny had not happened a month after Mangal Pandey shot at a British officer, he would in probability have disappeared into oblivion. But the 1824 episode was a more collective enterprise. It happened on the first two days of November 1824; nearly 200 sepoys were killed by the Royal Artillery and 14 were hung later. According to the author, the mutiny grew out of the sepoys’ economic grievances. The reference to tulsi leaves and Ganges water is to the sepoys’ regimental ritual of loyalty which became, in 1824, a slogan of unity. The documentation of the book is impressive but the writing is shoddy and the editing is non-existent.

Favourite haunts

London by pub: pub walks around historic london By Ted Bruning, Prion, £ 6.95

A pub is a unique British institution. Someone unfamiliar with British life will be at a loss to comprehend the meaning of “a visit to the local’’. Most areas have their favourite local pub. Even a tiny village will have its local pub with the most unlikely name of Boar’s Head or the Crown. The standard drink in a pub is a pint of ale or lager. Pubs also serve spirits and some of the pubs in Scotland specialize in single malts. Now, with yuppification, pubs have wine bars attached to them. This trend has made many pubs lose their traditional charm and character. Before the invasion of French cuisine, pubs that served meals made the traditional British favourites, Lancashire hotpot, Shepherd’s Pie and roast beef and Yorkshire Pud. This book is a celebration of London pubs. The author has selected some of the older regions of London and their pubs. He describes the history of the area and the pubs. If you love your London and you love your tipple, this is the book for you.

Why do they hate us?

Islam under siege: living dangerously in a post-honor world By Akbar S. Ahmed, Vistaar, Rs 380

This book was written under the shadow of the events of 9/11 and is authored by one of the authorities on Islam, which has emerged as the West’s whipping boy. And Akbar S. Ahmed addresses questions such as, “Why do they hate us?’’ and “Does the Quran preach violence?’’ Militant Islam has brought the whole of Islam, its philosophy and its practice, under scrutiny. Ahmed is one of the few people around to face the questions without blinkers. Ahmed brings his scholarship to bear on some of the most relevant issues but the scholarship does not stand in the way of comprehensiveness and lucidity. The size of the book is in inverse proportion to the importance of the subject it tackles. This is said not as criticism but as praise for the compactness of its arguments and the clarity of the prose.