Delving deep into history

Engels: A revolutionary life (Aakar, Rs 350) by John Green is a “biography of Friedrich Engels”. Green chronicles the extraordinary life of Engels, the co-founder of the communist movement. He gives a detailed description of the events that had occurred in Engels’s life as well as his friendship with Karl Marx. These facts bring to life a man who, otherwise, was lost in the annals of time. Engels’s own personal experiences of the deplorable conditions that people belonging to the working classes lived in led to his vivid observations. The author finds it tempting to compare Engels to Che Guevara; he finds out that their lives have an uncanny resemblance. The author adopts a sympathetic tone when he says that history is unkind to those who play second fiddle or are overshadowed by greater personalities. Engels has often been dismissed as a “wealthy capitalist” who kept the Marx family from descending into penury. But it is also true that he was Marx’s intellectual equal and has made significant contributions through his writings. Engels and Marx were “intimate friends” and collaborators on almost all of their projects, but Engels was self effacing and was content with playing second fiddle to “a first violin as Marx”. Green has managed to “remove much of the historical dust” that settled on the life of this man. He had presented facts in a manner that does not burden the reader.

History and heritage of Indian game hunting (Rupa, Rs 395) by Sudipta Mitra is “a humble attempt to encapsulate the magic moments of Indian game hunting”. Largely serving as a practice that provided food during prehistoric times, game hunting also helped business and was exemplified as a symbol of pride and valour for the aristocracy and the rich. Mitra, an avid wildlife photographer and a keen observer of nature, outlines the history of the culture of shikaar from the time of the Aryan civilization down to the modern times, through the Mughal, Gupta and Rajput eras and the British raj. The author has dedicated an entire chapter to the different tools used for hunting in pre historic ages. The book also explains the hunting methods adopted by the Homo erectus, the extinct species of hominin. The early sections of the book deal with the evolution of game hunting, while the later chapters deal with the different methods of hunting during various eras. Mitra combines all the information at her disposal and presents it in a cumbersome manner. It is thus interesting only to those with a keen interest in the ancient practice.

The Rataban Betrayal (Penguin, Rs 299) by Stephen Alter is set in the sleepy Indian town of Mussoorie. The RAW and the CIA send their highly trained, undercover representatives to investigate the murder of an American agent. Colonel Imtiaz Afridi, the protagonist, is a typical army man with a dangerous past. A mysterious accident at Rataban, the titular mountain cliff, has restricted him to the wheelchair. Afridi finds himself sucked into a murder conspiracy while the picturesque town is mired in bloody violence. The book maintains a frenetic pace till the end.Alter makes the story read like a screenplay for a Bollywood thriller, albeit a good one.

Practising spiritual intelligence for innovation, leadership and happiness (Wisdom tree, Rs 245) by Awdhesh Singh is yet another self-help book which promises readers search their souls with the help of “spiritual intelligence”. The practical steps offered in the book seek to assist readers in ‘developing their personalities’, but fails to make an impact. Humorous anecdotes abound in the book, but they are not enough to grasp and hold onto the reader’s attention.