Books, Authors, and Reviews
Most people, when they have grown up, stop reading books. They only watch TV. There are others who read only fiction – Mills and Boon (romantic) or Sidney Sheldon (crime-thriller) but nothing else. Sometimes, reading habits are driven by media frenzy. Trash fiction such as Harry Potter and Da Vinci Code* manage to top bestseller lists because of multi-pronged efforts through the media to push these books into people’s hands. People yearn for third-party validation or succumb to peer pressure. Even extremely successful people have this weakness.
When I was in school, I read a lot of fiction. From Asterix to Hardy Boys to James Hadley Chase to Jim Corbett, I have read them all. One day, just out of curiousity, I read Gandhi’s autobiography. I was captivated by how close one could get to history by reading biographies. I then read biographies of seveal others and soon graduated to non-fiction. Non-fiction helped me grow by leaps and bounds. I knew I was several cuts above the general population because of all the information I gathered from those books. I strongly believe one’s knowledge grows exponentially with number of non-fiction books one reads. With fiction, there is no change. On this page, I am recommending a few books to you. See if you can find them in a library.
A History Of Mathematics: From Antiquity to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century
By Joseph Frederick Scott. This is a very old book and is used as a standard reference by the Encyclopedia Britannica. The author seems pretty annoyed to find that ancient Indians had invented of the decimal system and the Algebra, thereby laying the foundation for modern mathematics. So, the author veers off into genetics to bring out a novel explanation – hybrid vigor. Crossbreeding between “Aryans” from the West and “indigenous” people of India created a vastly superior race, who were capable of inventions that could last for millennia. He goes on to say that the hybrid vigor lasted only a few generations, which curtailed further development of science and mathematics in India.
An Indian Summer
By James Cameron. Mark Twain said that the opinion of natives of their own country did not matter much. The opinion of foreigners on how the country “struck” them was more interesting. This work falls into that category.
Armed Truce: The Beginnings Of The Cold War – 1945-46
By Hugh Thomas. An extremely well-documented book on the origins of the bleeding-without-fighting war. In one place however Thomas goes off track and pulls a conspiracy theory on the reader. The author claims the early MIG aircraft engines were based on original Rolls Royce designs. In the references section, this bull is filed as “private information.” The author is also unable to come to terms with the fact that leaders like Roosevelt and Churchill had sought Stalin’s help to defeat Hitler. Like a typical Western historian, Thomas quotes some racist views Churchill had about Slavic people in a vain attempt to exorcise historical fact.
Bofors – The Story Behind The News
Chitra Subramaniam is credited with breaking the Bofors story in the press. She was based in Stockholm when Swedish radio broadcast that large bribes were paid to get the Indian howitzer deal. Ms. Subramanian managed to get hold of some original documents that threw light on the scandal. Despite threats to her life, she continued to make more revelations in her articles in The Hindu. For her courage and determination, she won several awards, one of which she shared with her editor N. Ram. However, after some time, the editor stopped publishing her articles, claiming that her work was “too controversial.” Chitra may have been asked to rest and settle for a job with the WHO, which is a front of the Rockefellers.
Can Pakistan Survive? The Death Of A State
When Tariq Ali wrote this book, Pakistan had been, for the most part of its existence, the leading banana republic in the world. Even now, the situation in Pakistan has not changed much.
Diary Of A Girl
By Anne Frank. This book may be a work of fiction, if you believe the claims of some skeptics who call themselves “Historical Revisionists.” I found it to be a good read though. It was purportedly written by a young Jewish girl when she along with her family were hiding from the Nazis. Her family claimed that she died in the concentration camps. Historical revisionists who went to her hiding place, which is now restored as a museum, say that is impossible for such a large family to hide in such a cramped space, among other things claimed in the diary.
Disastrous Twilight
Written by Shahid Hamid, personal secretary of the last C-in-C of British India. He later became DGMO (Director-General of Military Operations) of Pakistan’s Army. The author provides a first-person
account of the partition. It is an important book for every student of Indian History. It is well known and least admitted that the British cultivated Jinnah by proxy; this book provides the evidence.
Lord Mountbatten knew well that Hamid was a lackey of Jinnah. One day, the Viceroy tells Hamid that he believed that the creation of Pakistan was inevitable. Hamid admits that he went and told Jinnah about this. Jinnah grew more confident after this.
Another interesting bit of information I found was about Nehru. Many people are aware of Gandhi’s statement that Nehru even thought and dreamt in English. What many do not know is that Soviets were so impressed with Nehru’s writing in English that they paid him for his books in dollars, contrary to their practice of paying only in roubles.
Flames Of Chinar
This is the biography of Sheik Abdullah translated in English. One of the interesting tidbits in the book are that Kashmiri Brahmins (Pandits) eat meat and that Nehru used to sleep with Chanakya’s Arthrashastra under his pillow. The second bit is probably not true. Nehru was an idiot (Freemason).
Gandhi – A Memoir
William L. Shirer mentions Gandhi slept with naked women to test his will power. I don’t recall reading this in Gandhi’s autobiography. (Shirer was a great falsifier of Nazi history. It seems
that Shirer was the authorized Press agent for Hitler’s Wall Street backers.) Even based on other accounts, it seems that Gandhi was at worst a fetishist. Though it is unlikely that Gandhi would have deliberately pursued the girls against their will, he certainly seemed to have taken advantage of them. Everything else that Gandhi preached and did was right – from ahimsa to village economy to letting Jinnah get lost with Pakistan.
History Of Operations In J&K (1947-48)
The authors Dharmpal & S. N. Prasad are government historians and this book provides the official version of the events in the 1947 war with Pakistan. It sets the record straight on several controversies. For example, they have showed how Stanley Wolpert was wrong in quoting M.C. Mahajan. However, they provide an unsatisfactory explanation for Nehru’s decision to halt the advance of the Indian Army into present-day POK.
Holy Bible In The Light Of The Vedas
Swami Chidbhavananda compares the bible and its “brutal verses” with Indian scriptures. Published by Sri Ramakrishna Tapovanam, Tiruparaitturai, Tiruchirapalli District, Tamil Nadu. PIN Code: 639115.
Jinnah Of Pakistan
Stanley Wolpert reads like a yearbook. He speculates that the Muslim League delegation that went to bring Jinnah to India may have used sex to persuade win him over. Wolpert rides on controversy to sells his books.
India And The China Crisis
Steven Hoffman’s critique on the Indian political establishment during and after the 1962 invasion by China.
Making A Nation: The United States and Its People
By Jeanne Boydston and others. Ms. Boydston is no more. She has however shown how history textbooks need to be written. Every American should read this book. Unlike most history textbooks, this one doesn’t just say what happened; it goes behind-the-scenese to say WHY they happened, WHO caused it to happen and WHAT were their real motives. This is how all history textbooks need to be written. It makes you like history. Give it your kids. Read it yourself. It’s a real page-turner. Buy the combined volume and the bundled companion CD of original sources.
Max Mueller – A Lifelong Masquerade
The British did not like the fact that the Indians and the Chinese had a longer and more illustrious history than Christian Europe. So, they created a false framework on which Indian history need to be written. Max Mueller was one of the early contributors. Employed by the East Indian Company, he provided a fake translation of the Vedas. Max Mueller coined the word “Aryan” for Europeans. It is from his work that the Aryan Invasion Theory (Central Asian shepherds colonized North India and wrote the Vedas.) derived. Brahm Dutt Bharti’s book exposes the lifelong masquerade.
Nagaland Nightmare
By P. D. Stracey. It is no wonder that Nagaland was a nightmare. Many Indians think Nagas are from China. For their part, seccionist Nagas say they are related to their cousins to faraway Taiwan! Seccionist’s literature revolves around the point that Nagas are a nation and not part of India. Stracey, who is an Anglo-Indian, tells us the facts. Nagaland was never a nation. Nagaland was a collection of isolated villages that fought with each other. Head-hunting was widely practiced. Nagas were converted to Christianity by American missionaries, who also told them they were not Indians. It was again Americans who left behind a huge cache of firearms after they fought the Japanese in Burma. Today, Nagas are armed to the teeth. They hunt with firearms, not bows or arrows. They worship Jesus Christ. They have Christian names. There is a special Naga council, which runs a parallel government and collect taxes. It was never in existence before the Americans went there. Only a few tribes have survived these onslaughts and have retained their original Naga traditions and culture.
North-West Frontier
Arthur Swinson tells us that nobody in history has ever held Afghanistan for long. That is perhaps why George “I am a moron” Bush and St. Obama of Hope and Change have sent the U.S. military there. You see endless war means a permanent stream of money for the elite that arms the U.S. military. You see the war – World, Cold, Vietnam, Korean, etc., serve only one purpose – increase the coffers of the arms merchants and other war profiteers.
Oil Monarchies
If you want the official view (Rockefeller’s CFR), then this is the book. Written by F. Gregory Gause III.
Orphans Of The Storm
This book is collection of fictional accounts of the partition. Relax. I recommend it because this book made me see for the first time that Pakistanis are also human beings, like us. Every Indian should read this book.
Rajiv
Sonia Gandhi may not have a Cambridge degree but she knows how to compile a photo album. Yes, this is her book.
Tamil Revival In The 1930s
Eugene Irschick covers the attempts by Dravidian movements at Tamilrevival in the pre-Independence era. (Available at the Connemara Public Library, Egmore, Madras.) I wrote to Irschik about this book. His daughter replied and referred me to some other research material. It was after that I started doing actual research for my writings.
The CIA And The Cult Of Intelligence
A classic expose on the CIA, written by an ex-agent Viktor Marchetti. His book was heavily redacted. However, there were some passages about how the CIA helped the Nagas. CIA also ran some private airlines in Laos fetching American prostitutes and drugs. It was my first introduction into the murky world of Western intelligence agencies. I was surprised to learn for the first time that a government agency in a democracy would be involved in drugs smuggling. Apparently, most of the drugs run under the protection of the CIA ends up in North America and Europe.
The Complete Essays Of Mark Twain
Edited by Charles Neider
The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain
My time in the American Center library was not entirely wasted.
The First Round Indo-Pakistan War 1965
Asghar Khan was Air Force chief in Pakistan at that time. His description of the drunken antics of the Pakistani military leader will make you buckle with laughter.
The Great Mutiny
Christopher Hibbert chronicles the 1957 Indian revolt (dubbed “sepoy mutiny”) against East India Company’s government with first-person accounts of European survivors.
The March Of Folly – From Troy To Vietnam
Barbara Tuchman spans across eons to show how nation after nation has gone to war only to end with failure because they all followed a policy that essentially defeated its purpose.
The Rise & Fall Of Great Powers
Paul Kennedy says that before Industrial Revolution, India was biggest manufacturing nation in the world. Import of cheap factory-made textiles from Britain laid waste to large parts of the Indian economy and millions died from poverty and famine.
The Rise & Fall Of The Third Reich
William L. Shirer was given unprecedented access by the Nazis to chronicle their regime from close quarters.
Up From Slavery
This book by Booker T. Washington was the second biography that I read after Gandhi’s autobiography.
You Can Fool All The People All The Time
If I had to sum up my world view in one sentence, the title of the book by Art Buchwald would do. In Mein Kampf (I have a copy), Hitler says that people will not believe if you tell them small lies but that they will definitely fall for a big lie. If you want a recent example, take Barack Obama.
An Eye For An Eye
By John Sack. I was shocked when I read this book. Everyone knows that Nazis ran concentration camps for Jews but did you know that Jews ran concentration camps for Germans AFTER THE WAR? This book by noted journalist John Sack chronicles how hundreds of thousands of Germans were deliberately tortured, starved, and killed by Jews appointed by Stalin. Both sides of the Cold War cooperated in this plan to punish Germans. After the book was written, the publisher would not print it. Several big publishers did extensive fact checking but no one would touch it. Here is an excerpt.
Clouds of Secrecy: The Army’s Germ Warfare Tests Over Populated Areas
Publisher’s description: The book Clouds of Secrecy is a probing examination of the Army’s germ warfare testing program from World War II to the present (1987). Using extensive information from congressional hearings, courtroom testimony, interviews, and government documents, the author details the nature of the Army’s biological experiments, the reasoning behind the tests, and the effects on exposed human populations.
“Biological weapons … deserve a wider understanding. Dr. Cole‘s carefully researched account provides the best possible intorduction to this important subject.” – The New York Times
“… should be read by every concerned citizen. Cole has performed an invaluable service for the public and for biomedical scientists.” – Jonathan King, MIT
More information in William Blum’s Rogue State in chapters named “Chemical and Biological Weapons Abroad” and “Chemical and Biological Weapons At Home”.
WHO KILLED KARKARE – The Real Face Of Terrorism In India
The author of this book is SM Mushrif, an Inspector General of Police from Maharashtra. He uncovered the Telgi scam. The author’s contention is that Brahmnistic cliques have allied with India’s enemies all throughout history (starting with Mughals and then the British) and played a treasonous role in India’s history. Currently, a Brahministic clique in the Inteliigence Bureau (IB), with the help of unknown foreign interests, has been conspiring with Hindutva forces (RSS, VHP, BJP,…) to create anti-Muslim hate and subvert our national unity. IB has been doing this by arming and training “Hindu” terrorists and coordinating terror strikes. IB follows up this by blaming innocent Muslims and launching a witchhunt all over the country. Mushrif thinks that Karkare, as the ATF chief, found about IB’s treasonous role and killed him in a fake encounter using its own “Hindu terrorists.” He also blames the Balta House encounter on the IB. The focus of the book however is the 26/11 attacks in Bombay and the murder of Karkare. Mushrif analyses relying solely on news reports picks numerous holes on the shifty terror story painted by the IB.
Here is my take: IB was created by the British and operates in a legal vacuum. Its actions have no statutory backing. It is basically an ilegal organisation operating outside the law. The British East India Company and the Imperial Government were just fronts for the British banking family of
the Rothschilds. IB seems to be under their continued patronage, despite India’s independence. To ensure that IB continues to serve Rothschild’s interests, IB has remained Brahmin-heavy.There are no Muslims in its ranks and does not implement reservation policies for socially backward communities. People on the IB rolls are very insecure. It can easily be denuded of its illegal powers and its Brahmin officers can be left unemployed. It is because of the Rothschilds and their worldwide network that IB officers continue to receive their pay.
All politicians and bureacrats are afraid of the IB. IB readily offers its services so that the ruling party can spy on the opposition. IB cannot be accused of any failures. Whenever there is a terrorist strike, they will say they could do better only if they had more powers. So, their shorcomings just adds to their strength. IB is also known to arrest innocent suspects and then foisting false criminal and terror charges on them. Several news organizations have revealed how IB takes suspects to unmarked houses and tortures them until they confess. When the police does this, the media castigates them. But, when IB does this, the media voluntarily censors itself in what they think as interests of national security.
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