Rishi

A decent read but unbelievably overhyped due to the trump win. There is nothing revelatory in this book. Generational poverty matters. Education and family stability matter. Government can do good but can also get things wrong. That's the basic gist.

Accept it for what it is.... A gossipy, tabloidish, and often slapdash account, albeit one with a lot of access to Trumps White house and senior staff. Its a fun read but it's main utility is to enable an open discussion of stuff that more serious reporters have known for ages but have not been able to attribute to specific people... That Trump is a petulant, narcissistic child who nobody respects.

Exceptional. Heartbreaking. Essential.

One of the finest works of fiction I have read in my life.

A detailed and well researched book about Iran in the 20th century, culminating in the overthrow of the Shah in 1979. The author does have a clear perspective that is sympathetic to the Shah, but he is also clear eyed in his criticism of the Shahs personality traits that played an important part in the way history unfolded. Given the popular revisionist narrative that the Shah was a brutal, corrupt buffoon, I think it was fair for the author to set the record straight. The Shah was flawed, but not nearly as brutal or bloodthirsty as made out. His inability to deal well with critisim and bad news, and his poor judgement of character was a fatal Achilles heel, but it was only one part of his narrative.

The book also does a good job of explaining the intentional brutality and extremism of Khoemeni, who in some western eyes was seen as a popular liberator.. He was not.

I agree with some of the other reviews that the author is ridiculously over exuberant about Queen Farah. He should have toned this down, because it sounds almost like a PR agency working on a client account.

History is never completely objective, but it is hard to imagine a counterfactual where the Shah surviving and continuing would not have been a net positive for Iran, the Middle East, and possibly the world.

I think a 5 star history of modern India would be almost impossible to achieve, because the task of building a cohesive, coherent, substantive and readable history about such a broad, complicated topic is a gargantuan task. Guha does a pretty good job, however, effectively balancing broad trends while making sure that regional issues are also documented. Guha, like myself, is clearly an advocate of a secular democratic state that recognises the realities of historical injustice and seeks to address them. Therefore, his perspective about Nehru and other early leaders will necessarily not reflect the perspective of many on the political right of Indian politics.

Overall this was a highly educational book for people looking to understand modern India and how it has evolved.