War Bob Woodward Simon & Schuster 448 pages Rs 619 Bob Woodward, the award-winning journalist, is a doyen of Presidential history and has done books on George W Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump. This particular volume gives a fly-on-the-wall account of US President Joe Biden’s stint in the White House. War, which covers the decision-making processes in Washington on the two ongoing wars — between Russia and Ukraine and Israel against Hamas — is a fascinating insight into how the US administration dealt with the two conflicts that have upended many assumptions in the post World War II era. Anger Management: The Troubled Diplomatic Relationship between India and Pakistan Ajay Bisaria Aleph Book Company 560 pages Rs 999 Ajay Bisaria, who served as PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s private secretary and later as India’s High Commissioner to Pakistan before being withdrawn in 2019 after the revocation of Article 370 on August 5, is best placed to write a book on Pakistan. In both roles, he was in the room when decisions on engaging or not engaging with Pakistan were made. So from his vantage perspective, he has given a tour de force for India-Pakistan ties. This is a must read and the most updated account of the relationship between the two countries. Crosswinds: Nehru, Zhou and the Anglo-American Competition over China Vijay Gokhale Penguin RandomHouse 256 pages Rs 699 This has to be one the most scholarly books on China that explores how the Western powers, US and UK, engaged with China in the early years. Vijay Gokhale served as India’s ambassador to China and later as Foreign Secretary. He had a ringside view of India’s diplomatic relationship with all the major players in the world and also gives a glimpse of how New Delhi engaged with Beijing in the early years. As the author of The Long Game (2023) — where he dejargonised the Chinese negotiating strategy — this book has given a window to the past that helps us understand the present competition for influence.
