The book throws insight into Delhi's monuments. The book describes the historic ruins of Delhi and the rich cultural past of India…

Through her work, Rakhshanda, who is Media and Cultural Coordinator at Jamia Millia Islamia, draws attention to 'the cloak of Invisibility that hangs over the lesser known, more neglected monuments that dot much of South and Central Delhi…’

What makes Jalil’s book different is the photographs (by the well-known photographer-writer DN Chaudhuri) and the utterly delightful watercolours by Premola Ghose, whose cheerful family of animals has become as familiar to us as the Air India’s Maharaja or RK Laxman’s Common Man. Through the antics of the animals, Ghose’s paintings draw our eyes to details in the monuments (floor mosaic, gateway embellishments, adjacent buildings) in a way that would be impossible through words or pictures…

The book reads well, its highlights being illustrations by Premola Ghose and photographs by DN Chaudhuri. What stands out is the Foreword by Khushwant Singh…

The book presents the wisdom of the Upanishads in a concise and beautiful manner in Sanskrit and its translation in Hindi and English. Breathtaking pictures further make the book a collector’s item…

Mutiny Memoirs offers a bird’s eye view of the Rising, through the personalised account of Colonel ARD Mackenzie, an active participant of the events that occurred then. And that’s what makes his journey so interesting. Books on the Mutiny or the Rising are aplenty but Memoirs is worth a read because it makes for absorbing reading in an easy and lucid style, as one would experience, while reading someone’s diary. Personal yet full of information. In all, an absorbing read that will keep you on your toes as you journey through the action of a bygone era…

This is a gem straight out of a time capsule-Mutiny Memoirs: Being Personal Reminiscences of the Great Sepoy Revolt of 1857. Even Before starting to read Mushirul Hasan’s brilliant and lengthy introduction and what Mackenzie himself has to say, the reader swoons at the production quality of this slim paperback. Speckled with visual 'oldness’ on the pages, the engravings reproduced bring a book back to life. For history buffs as well as lovers of books, Mutiny Memoirs is a mental and tactile treat…

The book which is indeed Ragini’s first published work, clearly testifies her creativity as she pens her fantasies in an astonishing, fresh and simple style of short paragraphs and even shorter sentences…

Published by Niyogi Books, Karan Singh: A Tryst with History, will give you a chance to visit royalty in all its glory…

A pictorial biography of the man who was Regent, Sadar-i-Riyasat and Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, the coffee-table book is a collectible for history buffs. Rare photographs and Karan Singh’s personal observations from his ring-side view of history are unique features…

Every good book speaks for itself. My great, great grandfather was a freedom fighter who fought against the colonisers in 1857, and was later condemned to Kala Paani for the rest of his life. Jama Masjid was where pamphlets were distributed to galvanise the Indians to fight against the colonists. Supporting this book is like coming full circle.

I must admit I am not a fan of coffee-table books, but this one is different. It weaves a fascinating story of the history of the Jama Masjid with a kaleidoscope of images that are loaded with depth and beauty.

I admire people who decide to share their knowledge after a lifetime of work.

Sleek and lavish in exterior, scholastic and nostalgic in content...

The book illustrates the glory of one of the world’s finest mosques. It portrays Jama Masjid as a testimony of living Islam in the Indian environment and is a pictorial treasury with numerous photographs.

The book has some interesting anecdotes combined with beautiful photographs and exclusive illustrations to bring alive the magic of the Jama Masjid.

Not about fluff, the volume brings alive the legacy of one of Delhi’s important institutions...

Besides photographs and statistics about Sourav’s cricket career, the book also dips into his personal life, especially his relationship with his daughter Sana…

Datta knows Ganguly like the lion knows Masai Mara. The result is classy…

The lone biography in the new bunch is Sourav Ganguly: The Maharaja of Cricket by Debasish Datta. Lavishly mounted, it has some rare photographs to commend it.

This one is no quickie, Ranjana Gauhar, Odissi exponent and teacher has spent seven diligent years putting together her first book…

Now here’s a book that will offer undiluted pleasure to the lovers of Odissi dance, reckoned for its sculpturesque poses, mudras and feet that speak…

Padmashree Ranjana Gauhar’s book entitled Odissi the Dance Divine has just been launched and is a proof of her extensive research and knowledge of the dance form…

Riding the Himalaya is an Himalayan odyssey with a well-researched text by Keki N Daruwalla. The text is equally matched by the photographs of Ashok Dilwali, whose portrayal of mountains, nature and the people is stunning…

Though I am not very adventurous, I find the book very engrossing. Daruwalla’s luminous prose, wit and humour, combined with delightful pictures taken by Ashok Dilwali, would bring home the beauty and irresistible charm of the Himalayas and its people to the readers.

The book is a unique travelogue of a Himalayan odyssey.

The book is a great glimpse to this world’s biggest mangrove forest, with great pictures detailing its distinctive natural vegetation and wildlife. It is a collector’s item…

Emerging with insightful findings, it is accompanied by an impressive fact file, useful addresses and of course the aspects of Sunderbans as a tourist haven…

The book is a must for all epic and historical art lovers…

The pictures (or the plates in this case) that complement the brief narrative on each page are intricate and done beautifully, making it unputdownable…

The 220 page book is illustrated with glamorous images of dance. It is a commentary on the present dance scene in India, the role of gurus, critics, the different value systems and the ever-changing attitude of Generation Next towards dance…

The book is a personal record of the talented dancer’s encounter with her beloved dance form, Bharatanatyam…

The seven chapters—aptly titled as per the dance lexicon—of her coffee table book bring out the multi-dimensional perspectives of the world of a dancer and how dance came to her rescue during her lonely moments...

So Many Journeys is not a coffee-table book that will lie around simply looking pretty...

It’s a touching book. It’s about a part of India which we must cherish, celebrate and most importantly, protect.

That night I ignored sleep, forgot about my dreams, instead I travelled with Payal through the printed words. Thank you Payal for telling me where to head for my next exploration… that’s almost a paean to the book. Isn’t it…?

It is a book that celebrates the spirit of rural entrepreneurship in Bengal...

In the Shadows is a small but well-produced book with some beautiful photographs by Leena Kejriwal. It allows the reader a glimpse into the fascinating world of rural entrepreneurship of Bengal…

In the Shadows, is an enormously well-written and engaging read. The book comes with an amazing array of illustrations, which adds layers to the textual narrative...

In the Shadows Unknown Craftsmen of Bengal icelebrates crafts that have all but dropped off the map and captures these unusual livelihoods in big glossy pictures...

In the colourful book, replete with pictures of the wig makers, light makers, polo ball makers, boat makers, the shuttlecock makers and the denim cloth makers, several startling facts are woven into its narrative...

It is one of those volumes that transport you to the past and surprise you with its content. The book also comes as a refreshing change, as an academician and historian has gone beyond the usual to focus on what can be called unusual. Professor Mushirul Hasan has used his knowledge of history and his keen observation well, unearthing details from the past to show how much wit and humour helped to entertain and enlighten a harassed populace...

India’s leading historian of Muslim politics and communalism in colonial India has written and edited an engaging and offbeat book. The underlying politics behind the publication of the book, though unstated, cannot be missed by the reader. By putting together this riotous volume of cartoons Hasan seems to be conveying a subtle but nevertheless strong message to both Western champions of liberty and Muslim fundamentalists...

Wit and Humour in Colonial North India invites us to reflect on the importance of cartooning as a means to stoke individual and collective political consciousness...

This Book is a true reflection of popular contemporary culture.

Mushirul Hasan’s creation Wit and Humour is a fantastic gift for the reader. The book is produced by him for intellectual world. What is most significant about this book is that it has been written in its originality regarding 19th century, social infrastructure and culture.

Always tell a historian, historian is legend in lifetime. The book is a running commentary of the happenings and evolution of the society in 19th century.

When the word is sacred the book reads like a prayer. This book is certainly worth looking at to marvel at the significance of the word...

Thanks to Professor BN Goswamy, along with Niyogi Books, the manuscripts of ancient India are finally available to laymen through his book: The Word is Sacred; Sacred is the Word…

If ever a book was worth its price, it is art historian BN Goswamy’s new work on the Indian manuscript tradition. The Indian reverence for the written word, coexisting with its rich oral tradition, is delivered in the book’s title itself...

The 176 page book is beautifully designed. From the flexi-pack jacket, the excellent quality of typesetting and the printing (on natural shade maplitho paper) to the quality of the photographs, scanned impressions of contemporary newspapers and a copy of Aurobindo Ghose’s statement disavowing connections with any ‘secret society’…

Few people are better equipped to write about the dramatic change in Delhi’s character than Dhruv Chaudhuri, son of Nirad C Chaudhuri. He came to Delhi in 1942, when his father rented a flat near Mori Gate. He never went to school, but learnt everything from his distinguished father. He took up photography as his profession, starting with a box camera before going in for more sophisticated instruments. He has recorded his impressions of the Delhi that was with beautiful photographs and lucidly written text in Delhi: Light, Shades, Shadows (Niyogi Books). I recommend this pictorial biography of the Delhi that was and what it became to all lovers of the city.

Few people are better equipped to write about the dramatic change in Delhi’s character than Dhruv Chaudhuri, son of Nirad C Chaudhuri. He came to Delhi in 1942, when his father rented a flat near Mori Gate. He never went to school, but learnt everything from his distinguished father. He took up photography as his profession, starting with a box camera before going in for more sophisticated instruments. He has recorded his impressions of the Delhi that was with beautiful photographs and lucidly written text in Delhi: Light, Shades, Shadows (Niyogi Books). I recommend this pictorial biography of the Delhi that was and what it became to all lovers of the city.

Walking through the streets of Delhi, the book portrays the changes the city has undergone over the years...

Dhruva Chaudhuri’s book contains some pictures taken by a five rupee box camera when he was thirteen...

There are images of bullock carts outside parliament, trams in Old Delhi and chessplayers in Bazaar Sita Ram. This Delhi is lost to us now. Which is what makes this an important document. Chaudhuri’s book comes in a pleasing square format. Save this one for a long afternoon…

DN Chaudhuri offers us a kaleidoscopic view of a city that has grown from an eminently walkable entity to be savoured in a leisurely fashion, to the behemoth it now is…

The recently released book on the Red Fort makes you relive the grandeur of this more than 350-year-old citadel of Shah Jahan...

In this lavishly produced book, Dilli’s Red Fort by the Yamuna, we are reacquainted with what lies inside the red sandstone walls. The book is doused with photos and text that will only make a fool not want to make a visit to the astounding fortress...

NL Batra formerly in the Archaeological Survey of India, has produced an illustrated book on the Red Fort which brings alive this elegant ‘paradise on earth’…

The book is comprehensive—old pictures and paintings from the Mughal period, the British Raj and the INA trials and after…

The book, with breathtaking pictures, tells you one very important thing—that there is more to the Red Fort than the emperor of opulence who built it, the mutineers of 1857 and the prime ministers who use it as a podium to address the nation on August 15...

A competent, well-designed look at an artist whose pride of place in the Indian art lexicon is celebrated because of the sheer force of repertoire and the number of places he dared to go to in the making of it. Written by acclaimed art critic Manasij Majumder, the book is a meticulous study of the artist’s psychosomatic landscape, much of it seen on his often-disturbing canvases. As all art books aspire to do, this one, fairly conventionally, traces the artist’s impoverished childhood, his disillusionment with the system, his influences (the period that Bikash spent influenced by Francis Bacon in the sixties is markedly sharp and shocking, much of the surrealism and distortion of the images bring out his best work). Though he is often celebrated for his latter realist phase, where women of Calcutta bear a matter of fact hue, coloured in textures that he is now well-known for. The book gains immensely by the variety of visuals; you’re often thinking Bikash is more than one man. Art styles change radically through the years, his images vacillate between terrible violence and stupendous calm, from bare sketches to dense thought, from observational to downright voyeuristic, without a care for being hung, Bikash Bhattacharjee’s oeuvre is definitely worth your time.

The book analyses technical and stylistic development of art with detailed explanations on some paintings displayed within...

The book takes the readers through the world half-created and perceived in Bhattacharjee’s works…

There is immense power in his work and his paintings are disturbing, one can see the subconscious of the painter. He is a model for young artists because he was able to articulate ideas and images deep in our subconscious, bringing out several psychological elements we normally would not like to face...

Although initially it was not meant to be so, Manasij Majumder’s lavishly-illustrated book, Close to Events: Works of Bikash Bhattacharjee, is a fitting tribute to the artist who died last December…

His works have a stunning range of rich and complex imagery with unforgettable faces and figures that no photography can match…

It is replete with paintings ranging from portraits that he was most famous for, everyday life on the streets of Calcutta, his angst on the Partition, his ‘dolls’ series indicative of human depravation, the ‘tout’ series and much more...

The book, in a coffee table format with a moving post-script by his daughter; Nalini, offers the reader little-known perspectives to the Field Marshal. For instance, one comes to read of his intimate relationship with his siblings, his generally ‘English’ tastes (including his fetish for wearing suits even while eating dinner alone), his love for the patriotic Bengali poem Dhonodhanney pushpheybhora, his adoration for the Indian jawan, his peaceful and, at times, lonely days at the magnificent Kodagu (Coorg) family home, Roshanara. An array of priceless pictures, letters and certificates are included and truly enhance the readability of the book. Ultimately, this is a book meant more for a ‘civilian’ reader with a taste for trivia than for a student of military history. Here is money well spent for a unique perspective to the Indian army, to Kodagu and its people and of course, to ‘Kipper’—a great son of India...

A book which will definitely fill the shelf of book lovers, this book is about the great man in and outside the field.

With 200 pages and 164 photographs, this hardcover book, is a book of pride for the Kodavas and a must read for anyone who loves the nation.

A book on Field Marshal KM Cariappa by his son Air Marshal (Retd) KC Cariappa presents a lesser-known face of a disciplinarian yet loving father...

It is one of those biographies written in a very forthright fashion, as biographies ought to be written. It’s a thick volume complete with many pictures and not a single detail seems bypassed. Whether on the personal front or those revolving around his illustrious career in the Army—spanning over three decades (1918-1953) with many firsts...

The biography has a strong visual narrative comprising archival matter sourced from private and state-owned archives. One of the interesting aspects of the book is an epilogue by the Field Marshal’s daughter, Nalini, who has put down her reminiscences of her father.

Field Marshal KM Cariappa presents a lesser known side of a stern disciplinarian, that of a loving father who ensured his children grew up to be great citizens despite the absence of a mother…

Visual Rhapsody is a delectable treat for most viewers. Each page contains some of the most well-known works of the painters, be it Sunil Das’ horses or Nandanlal Bose’s etchings. What makes this volume even more interesting is that it contains work done by artists between 1942 and 2005, and the oldest artist featured in the book was born in 1882 and the youngest in 1971. That no such effort had previously been made to highlight the literary aspect of the painters, makes this collection particularly individual...

Debashis Chanda’s book Visual Rhapsody attempts to piece together some of the best works of Indian painters and their poetry. It is a unique literary effort to showcase sketches and paintings of artists who are also poets...

Visual Rhapsody is a collector’s item both for lovers of poetry and paintings. The Delhi based publisher have shown an unusual interest in creative works from this region and have left it to the editor to present a fusion that should help remove the line dividing the two art forms.

Did you know that the Asiatic Wild Ass is a fawn coloured donkey? Did you know there existed an Asiatic Wild Ass? That and a whole lot more gyan on Indian wildlife comes your way in Wild Wonders of India, a coffee table book by Biswajit Roy Chowdhury. What will strike you about this book, and most likely stay with you for a long time, are Roy Chowdhury’s photographs. Shot in the glint of a setting sun, he makes the Indian Rock Python look like a work of art, while the Ruddy Kingfisher; bright orange against dry branches, could very well be your screen saver. There is a heady dose of knowledge, we learn about animals, birds, endangered species, national reserves, and it’s a encyclopaedic narrative style—nothing gripping. The visuals are so gripping that you are bound to keep turning pages.

Chef’s special: The book is a humorous attempt to categorise recipes on the basis of the various cuisines for aspiring gentlemen chefs.