When Pinochet was arrested in London in 1998 for crimes committed during his military dictatorship, there was no precedent for such an act anywhere in the world. No former head of state had ever been arrested in another country for an international crime. And it was this arrest that paved the way for the future … Continue reading Pinochet in London and a Nazi in Patagonia
Allesandro Manzoni’s ‘Betrothed’ is the ‘national novel’ of Italy. Every school child in Italy is familiar with the work and in the words of Bruce Penman whose translation I read: If Dickens had written only one novel, and there had been no Fielding or Thackeray; if his novel had foreshadowed the theme of a successful … Continue reading Allesandro Manzoni’s ‘Betrothed’
I embarrassingly realised that I knew next to nothing about the workings of the District judicial system in India until I picked up Prashant Reddy Thikkavarapu’s and Chitrakshi Jain's ‘Tareekh Pe Justice’ - Reforms for India's District Courts'. I came across their work when I saw it featured in the Ideas for India podcast. Article … Continue reading The Tragedy of the District Judiciary
All Seventy Episodes! Image Source
As I wrote last month, Alberto Moravia was the literary discovery of 2025 for me. His wife Elsa Morante was also a celebrated writer best known for her novels ‘Arturo’s Island’ and ‘History’. Their marriage was a stormy affair (literary icons you see), and Moravia himself had at one point confessed: There were days when … Continue reading The Moravia–Morante Marriage
Florence today has a population of around 360,000 and an area of around 100 sq km. ChatGPT informs me that the equivalent Indian city to Florence would be Sambalpur. For nearly three centuries, beginning in the thirteenth century, Florence produced an extraordinary constellation of luminaries who launched the Renaissance and changed the course of our … Continue reading The Miracle of Florence
The hyperlinks take you to my reviews…. Open Socrates: The Case for a Philosophical Life by Agnes Callard The High Cost of Free Parking by Donald Shoup The Berlin Wall: A World Divided, 1961-1989 by Frederick Taylor Shattered Lands: Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia by Sam Dalrymple 1493: Uncovering the New … Continue reading Best Non Fiction 2025
The hyperlinks take you to my reviews…. War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Quartet - My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay The Story of the Lost Child Kiran Desai’s ‘The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny' Dickens’ ‘The Bleak House’ Alberto Moravia was … Continue reading Best Fiction – 2025
Velasquez's 'Las Meninas' - one of the most analyzed paintings in all of art history makes an appearance in Samantha Harvey's Booker-shortlisted 'Orbital'. The painting as we know is a complex take on reality, perception, reflection and interpretation. Velázquez places himself within the scene as the painter, yet the true subject of his canvas remains … Continue reading The Dog in Velasquez’s ‘Las Meninas’
The Comedy of Errors is considered to be one of the first plays of Shakespeare and is also his shortest. Double roles and mistaken identities often serve as easy gateways for displaying a writer's ingenuity; Shakespeare, however, raises the stakes by introducing two sets of identical twins, allowing confusion itself to drive the comedy. The … Continue reading The Comedy of Errors
