Reddit mentions: The best indian & south asian biographies

You can begin reading to understand the history of the Kashmir conflict.


So here are some suggestions, based on where I began my own reading, and drawing on easily available publications by Kashmiris.

1. The good old Tracts For The Times booklet by Bajraj Puri - http://www.amazon.in/Kashmir-Towards-Insurgenc…/…/0863113842
   
   
   
2. AG Noorani's volumes on Kashmir (you can also find many articles by him, from Frontline, online) http://www.amazon.in/Kashmir-Dispute-1947-2012…/…/9382381155
   
   
   
3. Curfewed Night by Basharat Peer - http://www.amazon.in/Curfewed-Night-Kashmiri-J…/…/1439109109
   
   
   
4. A Long Dream of Home - The Persecution, exile and exodus of Kashmiri Pandits by Siddhartha Gigoo and Varad Sharma http://www.amazon.in/Long-Dream-Home-persecuti…/…/9385436201
   
   
   
5. Until My Freedom Has Come - a collection of short fiction, reportage, essays, news reports, interviews and a rapper’s song by Kashmiris, edited by Sanjay Kak http://www.penguinbooksindia.com/…/until-my-freedom-has-com…
   
   
   
6. BURIED EVIDENCE: Unknown, Unmarked, and Mass Graves in Indian-Administered Kashmir - a report by International People's Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Kashmir (IPTK) http://www.kashmirprocess.org/reports/graves/toc.html
   
   
   
7. Do You Remember Kunan Poshpora? http://www.amazon.in/Remember-Kunan-Poshpora-Z…/…/9384757667
   
   
   
8. You can read updates from the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) http://apdpkashmir.com/ and JKCCS http://www.jkccs.net/ - these groups post Facebook updates also, regularly
   
   
   
9. Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths of Peace by Sumantra Bose - https://kashmirebooks.files.wordpress.com/…/sumantra-bose-k…
   
   
   
10. Some other good readings are included in this list compiled by HT http://www.hindustantimes.com/…/story-PKmPCQ5WtigTwp85vvSpR…
    
    
    
11. An interesting article by Yoginder Sikand in EPW traced the shifts in the Kashmiri movement in the 1980s http://www.epw.in/…/…/changing-course-kashmiri-struggle.html
    
    
    
12. Agha Shahid Ali - The Country Without A Post Office (poetry) http://www.amazon.in/Country-Without-Post-Offi…/…/0393317617
    
    
    
13. Jashn-e-Azaadi - How We Celebrate Freedom - a documentary by Sanjay Kak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJnwGEk1fzQ
    
    
    
    
    Start where you like, these are not in any particular order. It is most encouraging that so many, ignoring the ugly trolling and hate-filled propaganda, are asking to know more on Kashmir. Yesterday's silent march also saw many come forward to ask to know more. Silence can break the media-scripted cacophony, a space of quiet can allow voices of good sense, especially Kashmiri voices, to be heard, and make for a path to empathy and solidarity.

Hmm....I'm going to interpret that question as '10 Books in No Particular Order that Weren't Massive Bestsellers that I Loved*'

• The Good Women of China An amazing book about the struggles of women in China from 1950s-1980s.
  
  
• Ode to Kirihito The book that got me hooked on Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy)'s classic manga.
  
  
• Shades of Milk and Honey A Regency Romance with a touch of fantasy, and the writing is a pleasure.
  
  
• Ender's Game Hardly indie anymore, but I found this near the bottom of a pile of books in middle school, thus launching my love of SF/F
  
  
• A Man with No Talents An anonymous account of a man who dropped out of the Salaryman life and became free to live his life as he wanted.
  
  
• The Dancing girls of Lahore A brutal, honest account of the underworld of courtesans in Pakistan.
  
  
• The Legend of Eli Monpress Escapist fantasy with amazing characters and a plot that keeps the reader up well past bedtime.
  
  
• Off to Be the Wizard Probably the closest to 'indie' on here, hardly a deep book but a hilarious geeky romp.
  
  
• Live Free or Die This one surprised me a bit, but my Libertarian SF-loving self just fell head-over-heels for this series.
  
  
• Boneshaker Because dammit, this is the one that sent me down the Steampunk rabbit hole.
  
  /* Ebooksgirl reserves the right at any time to change, amend, add or delete this list.

Formatted version:

1. The good old Tracts For The Times booklet by Bajraj Puri - http://www.amazon.in/Kashmir-Towards-Insurgency-Tracts-Times/dp/0863113842
   
2. AG Noorani's volumes on Kashmir (you can also find many articles by him, from Frontline, online) http://www.amazon.in/Kashmir-Dispute-1947-2012-1-2/dp/9382381155
   
3. Curfewed Night by Basharat Peer - http://www.amazon.in/Curfewed-Night-Kashmiri-Journalists-Frontline/dp/1439109109
   
4. A Long Dream of Home - The Persecution, exile and exodus of Kashmiri Pandits by Siddhartha Gigoo and Varad Sharma http://www.amazon.in/Long-Dream-Home-persecution-Kashmiri/dp/9385436201
   
5. Until My Freedom Has Come - a collection of short fiction, reportage, essays, news reports, interviews and a rapper’s song by Kashmiris, edited by Sanjay Kak http://www.penguinbooksindia.com/en/content/until-my-freedom-has-come%3Frate=1Jem0gUhLZKCLEzVRSto4bwhTDJWqJHs63AmYuUPQyo.html
   
6. BURIED EVIDENCE: Unknown, Unmarked, and Mass Graves in Indian-Administered Kashmir - a report by International People's Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Kashmir (IPTK) http://www.kashmirprocess.org/reports/graves/toc.html
   
7. Do You Remember Kunan Poshpora? http://www.amazon.in/Remember-Kunan-Poshpora-Zubaan-Violence-Impunity/dp/9384757667
   
8. You can read updates from the Association of Parents of Displaced persons (APDP) http://apdpkashmir.com/ and JKCCS http://www.jkccs.net/ - these groups post Facebook updates also, regularly
   
9. Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths of Peace by Sumantra Bose - https://kashmirebooks.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/sumantra-bose-kashmir_-roots-of-conflict-paths-to-peace-harvard-university.pdf
   
10. Some other good readings are included in this list compiled by HT http://www.hindustantimes.com/books/the-kashmir-reading-list-11-books-to-understand-the-conflict/story-PKmPCQ5WtigTwp85vvSpRM.html
    
11. An interesting article by Yoginder Sikand in EPW traced the shifts in the Kashmiri movement in the 1980s http://www.epw.in/journal/2001/03/special-articles/changing-course-kashmiri-struggle.html
    
12. Agha Shahid Ali - The Country Without A Post Office (poetry) http://www.amazon.in/Country-Without-Post-Office-Shahid/dp/0393317617
    
13. Jashn-e-Azaadi - How We Celebrate Freedom - a documentary by Sanjay Kak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJnwGEk1fzQ
    
    >Start where you like, these are not in any particular order. It is most encouraging that so many, ignoring the ugly trolling and hate-filled propaganda, are asking to know more on Kashmir. Yesterday's silent march also saw many come forward to ask to know more. Silence can break the media-scripted cacophony, a space of quiet can allow voices of good sense, especially Kashmiri voices, to be heard, and make for a path to empathy and solidarity.

There's a pretty good book on this sort of thing.You need to go digging through historical biographies and text to get a more typical view of what life was like back then (I'd start with those I recommended above.. A lot of people, myself included aren't a fan of Churchill's politics, but if you look at him through the lense of his era and keep in mind his differences to you or I... As in we weren't born in a palace as the son of a lord, on a first name basis with all of the richest & most powerful gentry. Getting to hang out in his teens & taken places by the Prince of Wales/the future King, Edward VII (who his mother was probably sleeping with)) its a great read and will give you a decent insight into what life was like for both the gentry & the people who worked for them:

https://www.amazon.com/Last-Lion-Winston-Churchill-1874-1932/dp/0385313489


The book on how great today is:

https://www.amazon.com/Abundance-Future-Better-Than-Think/dp/1451614217

Barbara Tuchman was brilliant writer of history.

Albert Camus was a brilliant absurdist philosopher and novelist.

Jared Diamond has written some brilliant books at the intersection of anthropology and ecology. Another good book in this genre is Clive Ponting's A New Green History of the World.

Gwynne Dyer is an acclaimed military historian turned journalist on international affairs who has written a number of very engaging books on warfare and politics. His most recent book Climate Wars is the ONE book I would recommend to someone, if so limited, on the subject as it embodies both a wonderful synopsis of the science juxtaposed against the harsh realpolitiks and potential fates of humankind that may unfold unless we can manage to tackle the matter seriously, soon. Another great book on climate change is Bill McKibben's Deep Economy.

For social activists interested in ending world hunger and abject poverty, I can recommend: Nobel Prize winning economist Amartya Sen's Development as Freedom; Nobel Prize winning micro-financier Muhammad Yunus' Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism; UN MDG famed economist Jeffrey Sach's End Of Poverty; and Greg Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea

For anyone of Scottish heritage, I heartily recommend Arthur Hermann's How The Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World and Everything in It

For naval history buffs: Robert K. Massie's Dreadnought.

Last, but not least: Robert Pirsig's classic Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Enjoy!

Ian Baker's The Heart of the World is my personal bible. But honestly? From someone that's done it himself, you'll get 100 times more personal growth and fulfillment getting out of the house and doing things than you'll ever get out of a book.

I love books. But paddling across an Alaskan lake under the watchful eye of the massive Mt Blackburn and hitchhiking across Afghanistan carrying hundreds of pounds of gear shaped me in ways that I'd be hard-pressed to glean from a book.

The biggest lesson I've learned this far: focus on spending your life doing what makes you happy and gives you purpose, not what makes everybody else happy. Life is short and you've only got one, so you might as well use it on yourself, not me or the next guy.

Being charitable and doing charitable works might sound like the opposite of that, but if helping other people gives you purpose, then that's what it is. But just don't do it because your dad or your mom or your uncle Bob thinks that's how you should spend your life.

Anyway that's just my two cents, haha.

Another cookie-cutter article in American news showing Pakistan as some sort of an alien place which has gone off the tracks. If I had a dollar for everyone of these articles...

Jinnah's "secular" quotes are taken so out of context. It's crazy.

Islam promotes tolerance and freedom of religion. Jinnah's "freedom of religion"/"secular" quotes are completely in line with Islamic beliefs. The freedom to practice religion is not alien in Islam. It's promoted. Surah-Al-Kafiroon in the Quran is a prime example of that:

https://quran.com/109

Jinnah constantly called for a "Muslim" democracy.

A must read is Jinnah's last public speech. At the State Bank, where he calls for an "Islamic" banking system:

http://www.sbp.org.pk/about/history/h_moments.htm

A must read also is "Secular Jinnah & Pakistan" by Saleena Karim which completely debunks the secular Jinnah picture that some have painted.

http://secularjinnah.co.uk/

https://www.amazon.ca/Secular-Jinnah-Pakistan-Nation-Doesnt/dp/190662822X

This is a good little 3 minute listen, too: Jinnah's last words:

https://youtu.be/WheUolk-VGM

And, this is a good read, too:

http://www.unsecularjinnah.com/jinnah-quotes

I can't really speak from my own experience, but from military buddies I have it seems like whatever good we're doing may be undermined whenever a drone goes and offs a handful of kids.

If our foreign policy was just carried out with daggers, I think we'd be in a pretty good place overall... but it's not, and so the innocent people who die might be outweighing the good that's done in terms of infrastructure and everything else.

What's depicted in Three Cups of Tea certainly makes a huge difference, but from what I can tell our military and governmental actions along those lines are outweighed by the accidental innocent deaths.

And the shit like the trophy killings that just broke this week.

One major point that people should know about Pakistan is that they are culturally, religiously, historically and linguistically tied to India and to an extent, Bangladesh and Afghanistan (the latter tie being stronger than the former).

India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh were once a single entity under the British Raj. Most Indian nationalists at that time, and some (though a smaller component) of Greater India nationalists see these three countries as one entity.

There are many reasons as to why India and Pakistan split, some of them are very legitimate concerns, whereas there are some issues that were very clearly motivated by personal interests of several leaders.

There is more to the split between India and Pakistan aside from the Republican split from the British Raj, there are other factors playing into the division of India into India and Pakistan, such as those that pertain to the treatment of the many Princely States.

Here are some solid recommendations as far as reading is concerned on this particular part of the world:

Quaid-i-Azam Jinnah and the Battle for Pakistan by Qutubuddin Aziz & Katherine Wang

Makers of Modern India by Ramachandra Guha

A Concise History of Modern India
by Barbara D. Metcalf & Thomas R. Metcalf

The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan
by Yasmin Khan

Shooting for a Century: The India-Pakistan Conundrum by Stephen Cohen

Peter Hessler's writings on China are great reads for people who are interested in the region. I particularly enjoyed River Town and country Driving, but Oracle Bones (which I haven't read) is a more historical outlook.

South East Asia is a big and varied region, is there a particular region or specific area in history you're interested in? In 20th century history there are many great biographies on Gandhi and also a lot of informative non-fiction on the Vietnam conflict

Two books that I ordered arrived:

• The Tale of the Heike, translated by Royall Tyler
  
  
• Wellington in India, by Jac Weller
  
  Heike Monogatari is a big one, as expected. It'll be a long read but I'm looking forward to it. Wellington in India was an impulse purchase because, well, I like the Duke of Wellington and I recently watched the movie Waterloo. This is my first Wellington book. I decided to go with it because the topic interests me - I've read a lot about Waterloo and a bit about the Peninsular War, but never anything about Wellington's campaigns in India. I'm definitely looking forward to it.
  
  Speaking of the Napoleonic age, would anyone happen to know of any good books that cover Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen? I know that he was a really important commander in the Napoleonic Wars, and that's about it. I'd love to read more about him.

I'd just finished Giles Milton's - Nathaniel's Nutmeg and then shortly after that I was inspired to read Redmond O'Hanlon's - Into the Heart of Borneo after meeting his daughter.
I discussed them with friends and someone recommended The Poisonwood Bible and it never even occurred to me that it was a novel.

As I said, incredibly embarrassed.

From fiction what about Sherlock Holmes? In the original books he is portrayed as the King of the FAs.

What about examples from real life? Leonardo DaVinci, Nikola Tesla, and George Eastman qualify. Charles XII of Sweden is probably the greatest general most people have never heard of, and despite being handsome, athletic, and a king, he was probably FA.

Winston Churchill was about the geekiest FA on the planet and goes on live a rich fulfilling life. Yes, he eventually marries, but he basically marries his first and only serious girlfriend at almost 34 years old.

To me that qualifies and because you mentioned books I suggest you read Manchester's biography. It is stone cold brilliant: https://www.amazon.com/Last-Lion-Winston-Churchill-1874-1932/dp/0385313489

To OP, another excellent source is Pretext for Mass Murder by Roosa. It's quite well researched and gives balance to the claims of different political parties with respect to what happened.

If you're really interested in that part of the world... you might like to spend some time reading more in depth about what life is like on the ground, there. These are two good books you might want to check out: 1 and 2

And keep following the Al-Jazeera youtube channel.

I don't think that things are as black and white as you make them out to be, BraveSirRobin.

It's a bio-trilogy called The Last Lion.

I'm still only on the first book but it is fantastically written, incredibly informative, and a joy to read.

They are not a quick read however; the one I'm reading now is over 800 pages, but I can't put it down. Right now I'm reading about Churchill as a 21 year-old youth serving in the Victorian army as a second lieutenant.

Really highly recommended.

This is a terrific idea. I might suggest that you sponsor schools instead of hospitals. I think the most deserving charity is Greg Mortenson's "Central Asia Institute" that constructs secular schools in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The schools provide secular educational alternatives to Saudi-funded radical madrasahs. The institute builds schools for $25,000 and the schools are constructed with free local community labor and on community donated land. The schools often focus primarily on girls educational issues.

The official CAI website

Donation Page

Greg Mortenson on Wikipedia

Central Asia Institute on Wikipedia

Book: "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson

Book: "Stones into Schools" by Greg Mortenson

Read this book The Oxford India Nehru - which is compilations of letters Nehru wrote to different people (heads of state, Congress party officials and state minister). The best way to understand the man and the compelling circumstances he was often subjected to - is only through his own words.

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:


amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

amazon.com.au

amazon.in

amazon.com.mx

amazon.de

amazon.it

amazon.es

amazon.com.br

amazon.nl

amazon.co.jp

amazon.fr

Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
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Read Nataniel’s Nutmeg if you want to learn about the spice trade during the colonial era.

Highly recommend

Nathaniel's Nutmeg: Or the True and Incredible Adventures of the Spice Trader Who Changed the Course of History https://www.amazon.com/dp/0140292608/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_8ctnDbFFAZQWR

You can do something about it by donating to charities that support girls' education in Afghanistan. Last week I gave $25 to The Asia Foundation's Afghan Girls' Education Fund. National Geographic is matching donations at this time :)

Afghanistan has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world and one of the largest disparities in literacy between men and women (source)

Girl's education reduces child mortality rates, increases womens' independence, increases equality, leads to increased women's rights, and increases the probability that her children are educated (Reference - PDF)

I recommend these related books:

Half the Sky

Three Cups of Tea

Stones Into Schools

Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Rein

http://www.threecupsoftea.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Three-Cups-Tea-Mission-Promote/dp/0143038257

I received this book as a birthday gift, and haven't stopped loaning it to friends since I finished reading it myself. It's intriguing, insightful, and inspiring. The life he's lived strikes me as a non-fiction version of the classic Hero's Journey.

According to the biography, The Last Lion, he did not drink nearly as much as he led other's to believe. He'd typically nurse just a single drink throughout the entire day (a tumbler of whiskey). He had serious health issues early on that prevented his lifestyle from actually matching up with the stories told.

He felt it was important to give the impression that he was the sort of man he ended up gaining a reputation for, as he used this as a political tool.

The man was a genius in many ways. Writing, orating, and strategy were among his top attributes.

Try these please:

1. Gandhi and Godse by Koenraad Elst: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/651180.Gandhi_And_Godse
   
2. The Murder of the Mahatma by Former Chief Justice of Punjab: https://www.mkgandhi.org/ebks/the-murder-of-the-mahatma.pdf
   
3. Gandhi, the other side: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B07HM28ZQC
   
4. May it please your honour: https://books.google.com/books/about/May_it_Please_Your_Honour.html?id=UlmbAAAAMAAJ
   
   

• Godse's last speech in court: https://youtu.be/z-SgFcBYaUA
  
  
• https://swarajyamag.com/politics/godse-was-an-assassin-its-more-correct-to-call-gandhi-an-extremist-albeit-a-noble-one
  
  
  
• https://speakola.com/ideas/nathuram-godse-why-i-killed-gandhi-1948
  
  
• https://modernhistoryofindiabyjanamejayan.wordpress.com/author/janamejayan/

Not a big fan of Shantaram. My favorite travel book about India (or Delhi specifically) is William Dalrymple's City of Djinns. Also, many folks I know have said good things about Samanth Subramanian's Following Fish though I haven't read it.

The Last Lion. It's a three part biography series, and they're some of the best biographies I've ever read.

If you want to know about Winston Churchill, this is the definitive series to read.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Lion-Churchill-1874-1932/dp/0385313489

did work for me, maybe not for everyone: Hesse's 'Siddhartha'

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Not fictional although it made me feel like I was in the adventure of my life all throughout the book, two years later I read The Heart Of The World. Only in retrospective can I tell how much this fueled my seeking, not in my mind but in, at last, manifest action.

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I'll come back if I recall others.

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Is this what I'm looking for from Davis? I haven't read much on Mallory outside of the fiction I mentioned above. That and some stuff revolving around Conrad Anker finding his body.

I'll look for some more stuff from Heffernan and check out some of your recommendations above over the summer. Thanks.

If you want a really detailed account of Ranjit Singh’s empire and the downfall. I recommend John Keay’s book, in search of the tartan turban. It’s an account by the American artillery Colonel in Ranjit Singh’s fauj, Alexander Gardner.

I just checked the title, and since it doesn't have the word "encyclopedia" thought a link might be helpful. Enjoy.

Except for the last line, this story is a lot like the accounts of locals contracted by British map makers to explore the Himalayas in this book: http://www.amazon.com/Heart-World-Journey-Tibets-Paradise/dp/0143036025

The Manchester books are terrific: https://www.amazon.com/Last-Lion-Winston-Churchill-1874-1932/dp/0385313489

A few peeves, though:

• The Kindle version is more expensive than the paperback, which usually disqualifies it from consideration for me. In this case, I would still get it, even if I get a used paperback because screw those guys.
  
• The third volume was written by his protege and is nowhere near as well written as the first two.

my GPS

or...

an alternative suggestion:
I just read "Three Cups of Tea".
(TCT on Wikipedia)

Please take a picture of a teacher teaching girls, everywhere you go.

I don't believe that all of Islam is that way. Tell him to try reading 3 cups of tea sometime.

3 solid reads that cover this:

Merchant Kings

Nathaniel's Nutmeg

The Embarrassment of Riches