Patriots and Partisans (Ramachandra Guha)

Patriots and Partisans

Tales from India presents the very best of Kipling’s short stories. His vignettes of life in British India give vivid insights into Anglo-India at work and play and into the character of the Indians themselves. Witty, wry, sometimes cynical, these tales with their brevity and concentration of effect are landmarks in the history of the short story as an art-form. Politics, the Raj and the life of the common sIn this wide-ranging collection of essays, Ramachandra Guha defends the liberal centre against the dogmas of left and right, and does so with style, depth, and polemical verve. Among the subjects on which he turns a critical eye are Hindutva, the Communist left and the dynasty-obsessed Congress party. Whether writing about politics, profiling individuals or analysing social trends, Guha displays a masterly touch, confirming his standing as India’s most admired historian and public intellectual.oldier are some of the familiar themes associated with Kipling but these stories also reflect the more unexpected aspects of Kipling’s character and the different influences of the contrasting countries India, America and England in which he lived. His progressive portrayal of women, his interest in supernatural and religious experiences, his understanding of the processes of mental and spiritual breakdown and the curative powers of art, are all revealed in this fascinating perspective of a great writer.