HT Picks; New Reads

America’s last days in Afghanistan

As night fell on 15 August 2021, the Taliban entered Kabul, capital of Afghanistan. After a 20-year conflict with the United States, its Western allies and a proxy Afghan government, the Islamic militant group once aligned with al Qaeda was about to bury yet another foreign foe in the graveyard of empires. And for the US, the superpower, this was yet another foreign disaster. As cities and towns fell to the Taliban in rapid succession, Western troops and embassy staff scrambled to flee a country of which its government had lost control. To the world, Kabul in August looked like Saigon in 1975. August in Kabul is the story of how America’s longest mission came to an abrupt and chaotic end, told through the eyes of Afghans whose lives have been turned upside down: a young woman who harbours dreams of a university education but whose family now want to give her up to the Taliban in exchange for security; a presidential staffer who works desperately to hold things together as the government collapses around him; a prisoner in the notorious Bagram Prison who suddenly finds himself free when prison guards abandon their post. Andrew Quilty was one of a handful of foreign journalists who stayed in Kabul as the city fell. This is his first-hand account of those dramatic final days.*

A characterful history from pitch to page

Cricket is defined by the characters who have played it, watched it, reported it, ruled upon it, ruined it and rejoiced in it. Humorous and deeply affectionate, Cricketing Lives tells the story of the world’s greatest and most incomprehensible game through those who have shaped it, from the rustic contests of eighteenth-century England to the heady spectacle of the Indian Premier League. This entertaining book is about the early legends, WG and KS Ranjitsinghji; the run-machine Don Bradman and his infamous rival Douglas Jardine; the dashing star Tiger Pataudi and invincible superstar Viv Richards. It is about the great all rounders Gary Sobers, Imran Khan, Ian Botham and Kapil Dev; the spin magician Jim Laker and stunning pace bowler Michael Holding; “the best wicket keeper in the world”, Sarah Taylor, and Harmanpreet Kaur, “who redefined the possibilities for Women’s cricket” with a single “incendiary’ innings”. It is also about famous cricket writers like John Arlott , and the flamboyant media mogul Kerry Packer, who changed the game for all time.*

A political call to action

What is the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh? Where is it steering India now that a party aligned to it has been in power for an extended period? And importantly, what does it believe in, what does it reject? These are only some of the questions that Devanura Mahadeva explores in this remarkable exposition that marries mythology with modernity and folklores with keen political insight. With characteristic humour, he urges readers: “When the Koogu Maaris of the RSS arrive at our doors, we should refuse to heed them. Like our people in the villages, we must write Naale baa (Come tomorrow) on our doors.” A tract unlike any other, RSS is both a political call to action and a work of outstanding virtuosity.One of Kannada literature’s foremost contemporary writers, Devanura Mahadeva is also a public intellectual whose force of conviction and uncompromising integrity has placed him at the centre of social conversations. As a young student, Devanura was drawn to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which he left to work towards building Karnataka’s socialist and Dalit rights movements.*

*All matter from book flap.