I have been an admirer and keen follower of Osprey Publishing as they have published many books relating to a period in history which has always fascinated me, namely World War II. Winston Churchill immortalized the fighter pilots of the Royal Air Force in 1940 during the Battle of Britain. In his inimitable style, Churchill said, ” Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.” The RAF pilots came to be known as The Few. Continue reading ““To Defeat The Few” by Douglas C. Dildy & Paul F. Crickmore”
Author: Prem Rao
Author, Blogger, Book Reviewer, Coach, and Podcaster
From my last post on “Lachmi Bai, Rani of Jhansi” you will know that I am fond of history and old books. Having studied at The Lawrence School, Lovedale ( originally set up by Major-General Sir Henry Lawrence way back in 1858 for the children of soldiers in the British Army of those times) , it has been my good fortune to have had many Anglo-Indian friends over the decades.
It was with great delight therefore that I read, ” Hostages To India: The Life Story of the Anglo Indian Race” by Herbert Alick Stark. This book was first published in 1926 in Calcutta. The version I read was published thanks to the Internet Archive. Continue reading ““Hostages To India” by Herbert A Stark”
Being fond of history and of books, I was delighted to come across an extremely old book recently. This was ” Lachmi Bai, Rani of Jhansi” by Michael White, re- published by Project Gutenberg which has brought out over 60,000 ebooks which are available for free to readers. The original was published way back in 1901 by J F Taylor And Company, New York! This book has an interesting sub-title, “The Jeanne D”Arc of India” Continue reading ““Lachmi Bai, Rani of Jhansi”by Michael White”
The lockdown has given me more time to read. My latest reading took me back to times long gone by but was for that reason all the more startling and gripping.
Have you heard of the Mitrokhin Archives? I had but rather vaguely. I now know that Vasili Mitrokhin, a senior Russian intelligence officer crossed over to the UK in 1992 with masses of documents about the organization he served for decades: the infamous Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti or the KGB. This translate to The State Committee for Security. An organization that sent chills down the spines of the residents in the USSR and its opponents the world over during the years when it was in its prime. Continue reading ““The Mitrokhin Archives II. The KGB In The World” by Andrew & Mitrokhin”
Congratulations to Shruti Johri for “Her Master Key: A Hotel Housekeeper’s Stories from Inn-dia” an interesting and well-written book. I wish though that she or her editors in Rupa had stayed with “India” instead of the punny “Inn-dia” in the title.
Almost autobiographical in nature, this book is made up of stories from the life of an Housekeeping Executive in a luxury hotel. So far there hasn’t been much written about the work lives of the housekeeping staff in our hotels. Johri’s book reveals a lot about what remains unseen and unknown as we enter and leave hotels as guests. Continue reading ““Her Master Key: A Hotel Housekeeper’s Stories from Inn-dia” by Shruti Johri”
As the blurb on the book cover has it, “Operation Mincemeat” by Ben Macintyre is ” the true spy story that changed the course of World War II .” I am not quite sure whether it did that. However, it cannot be denied that this amazing true story details how the Germans were deceived into believing that the Allies would attack Greece, when they actually stormed Sicily in July 1943. This was immensely significant at that time as it was the first assault by Allied troops on what was known as Hitler’s Fortress Europe. Continue reading ““Operation Mincemeat” by Ben Macintyre”
Firstly, let me make a confession. I really didn’t know as much about Swantraveer Savarkar (Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, 1883-1966) as I ought to. Having lived in Mumbai briefly, I knew of course that the old Cadell Road in Mumbai had been re-named Veer Savarkar Marg. I had no idea he had died just a few years before my time there.
I had heard of course about his long years of imprisonment by the British in the notorious Cellular Jail in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. However, there was much about his life and career that I did not know. Continue reading ““Savarkar And His Times” by Dhananjay Keer”
“Strangers” is the first book I read by Ms C L Taylor and I must say that I look forward to reading more from her. I understand she has written many books. Like her books, she has made a mystery of her name too, it would appear. In the realm of romantic comedy, she is well-known as Cally Taylor, becoming C L Taylor when she writes psychological thrillers! Continue reading ““Strangers” by C L Taylor”
Here’s a question for you! Have you experienced your memory, so to speak, playing tricks on you? Do you remember something that happened 50 years ago in great detail but can’t for the life of you remember where you left your spectacles a mere 5 minutes ago? To prove my point, here’s a quick example. As I write this blog post, my brain flashes to me an appropriate line: “Yes, I’m certain that it happens all the time!”. It is from the distant past being from the popular song, ” With A Little Help From My Friends” by The Beatles released in 1967!! Continue reading “Memory: Then and Now !”
Very few are as admired in India as our late Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru ( 1889-1964). As a school boy, I remember how thrilled we were when he visited our school in 1959, complete with that rose adorning his jacket. It was in 1962 however when his image took a beating in public for the first time. This followed the disastrous India-China War which saw our Army grossly humiliated. It was the same Army which as the British Indian Army had gained tremendous respect during World War II across different battle theaters, not to mention the sacrifices made in World War I as well. The blame for the 1962 blunders rest squarely with Nehru. Continue reading ““Nehru’s 97 Major Blunders” by Rajnikant Puranik”
Prem Rao : Stories from a Story Teller 