The Tangled History Of Tibet

The 80th birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama has occasioned a spate of comment on his life and message. Two recently published books – Tibet: An Unfinished Story and The Noodle Maker of Kalimpong – have received little attention in India  although they have interesting revelations to make on the recent history of Tibet. Read […]

Rate this:

The Soviet Union’s Kinkiest Collection

The collection’s story begins in the 1920s, when the Bolsheviks turned what was once the Rumyantsev arts museum  into the country’s national library. As the newly anointed Lenin Library began amassing new literature, it also opened a rare book department to house compromising materials, acquired primarily from confiscated noble libraries. Read Here – Moscow Times

Rate this:

The Great Year Theory

Seeing the past as a series of hefty dates has its uses. It arrests the flow of history and helps us take stock of the maelstrom of events whirling about the room. But handing out the trophies of public recognition to the same years, again and again, doesn’t just innocently stop up the past. It […]

Rate this:

Has A Warrior Nation Turned Anti-War?

We are, famously or notoriously, a warrior nation. From the 18th-century continental wars to the imperial battles, the world conflicts, and the post-colonial fighting of our own times, the British have prided themselves on being first with the bayonet. Our royal family and many of our national occasions are tightly interwoven with militarism. Our bookshops have […]

Rate this: