Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw: Soldiering with Dignity - Lt. Gen. Depinder Singh (2002)

Very few books have been written on war heroes of India. In that sense, this book is a good addition to let Indians know about one of the greatest soldiers of India who was instrumental in the win of a war with authority.The 1971 India-Pakistan war brought India to a military super power in the south Asian region and in the long run has changed the way the world has been looking at the country.

However, the book looks like a representation of street smartness of the Field Marshal than a serious account of life of the Field Marshal. Personally, I will not recommend this book unless someone wants to read about the Field Marshal as Indian history texts seldom talk about this celebrated soldier and his life.

Overall an average book.

First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently - M. Buckingham and C. Cuffman (1999)

This book needs no introduction. This has been cited as one of the top 10 books in the management literature.

http://management.about.com/od/careerdevelopment/tp/TopMgtBooks.htm

Rather than writing a commentary on this book, I will suggest people to go through the reviews on Amazon. If you have not read this book, I will suggest you read it as soon as possible.

How the Mighty Fall - Jim Collins (2009)

One of my favorite authors of management literature. But this book seemed more like a forced attempt than concrete outcome of a thorough research. Writing on fallen heroes by own claims are always hard. The facts that made them heroes in wrong proportions bring to their fall as well. There is certainly good deal of research but the outcome looks more like philosophic. But the five stages of falling companies is well identified and examples of companies who have gone through the phases nicely identified.

1. Hubris born of success
2. Undisciplined pursuit of more
3. Denial of risk and peril
4. Grasping for salvation
5. Capitulation to irrelevance or death

 You can identify them very easily when you have faced them in anywhere you have been exposed to. I think over all a good coffee table read.

 

 

What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures - Malcolm Gladwell (2009)

The Wikipedia link summarizes the theme of the book very well. However, I could not really correlate one story with another. I think each of the articles in the book are great but together as a book they do not provide enough interest. Each article is nicely written. Characterstic of the master story teller in Malcolm Gladwell.

I will advice anyone trying to read the book to read it as 19 pieces of essays loosely interconnected without trying to make sense out of it as a compilation.

Overall a good book to read if serious reading is what you like.

The World is Flat - Thomas Friedman (2005)

Some books are great when it's read in the times if is supposed to be read. I think the book has reached the expiry date. For the book to be talking about technology innovations in 2005 this is a great book. But when you read it in mid-2011 it has reached to its expiry. The settings and arguments are good but I must say not worth the time or effort to read it now.

The Bachelor of Arts - R. K. Narayan (1937)

The book does not need a review. But it's interesting still for me to write a couple of lines on it. A simple story written in 1937 but quite modern in its approach. The outline of the story is already stated in the Wikipedia link. What made this book unputdownable was the classic R.K.Narayan story telling. This is a book with a balanced dose of humour, emotions of an adoloscent, parental concerns and a man's confusion on choosing the right approach to his career and life.

Overall an interesting read.

Zero Percentile - Missed IIT Kissed Russia - Neeraj Chhibba (2009)

The book is about a student whose ambition was to get into IIT but could not make it due to circumstances which were beyond his control. Beyond that there is nothing much around IIT. The book has some typical situations of a transitional Russia and how harsh it had been for people in general. The book has very limited depth and towards end author tends to give a long discourse on love, sacrifice and has tons of rhetorics which only dilutes the theme of the story. The protagonist has been shown to have a champion business sense who could strike a deal with any situation.

Overall a very average book. Recommended if you have nothing better to read.