Inspite of all of Guha's perceived 'centrism' and his reverence (bordering on idolatry) of Gandhi and the first Nehru, this collection of essays (both old and new) by the eminent historian is immensely readable, dealing with a variety of issues - ranging from his favorite (now defunct) bookshop in Bengaluru, to the ticking bomb that is South Asia.

Guha comes across as a charming and erudite (if somewhat snobbish) scholar, one whose numerous tangents are read fondly, a rare quality for a author to have, and an even rarer quality for a historian to possess.

The main pitfall of this compendium will be the fact, that since it is a collection of essays, and not a standalone treatise on a single topic - many topics are repeated, and this happens fairly frequently. This collection would have been better served by a more meticulous editor, but oh well.

TL;DR - good read if you're interested in history/politics, must read if you're cynical about Indian politics (you'll become even more cynical, but that's a different matter altogether). ( )

Having read some of his other works (Makers of Modern India and India After Gandhi), I read this book with high expectations.
While some of the essays, say on Congress chamchagiri etc. make for good reading even if they do not offer much that is new. Essays on the politics in Nehru Memorial etc. may not be a good fit in this collection, since the decline of the Nehru Memorial library and other institutions is caused by self-centred individuals - who could be either patriots or partisans. Other essays, like about the EPW or the OUP in India or the bookshop in Bangalore left me scratching my head about what it was all about.

While Ramachandra Guha's credentials as a writer and historian are not in doubt (this is his third book I have read), he could have done better with his selection of essays. ( )

To someone who is well-versed with the nitty-gritty of Indian political panorama and exceedingly vigilant to the chimerical democratic garb that Indian politics adorn, barring a few nostalgic personal textual pieces, this book is akin to reading newspaper articles and magazines scouting for scholarly debates over eloquent verses surpassing tapered attitudes to a universal perceptive of secularists farce under autocratic, fascists and pluralists mirages. To the unknown it's a revelation.
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