Book Review [128] : Dictator

There are two civil wars that have deeply influenced human history - The Mahabharata War and the Roman Civil War (49 - 31 BC ) and perhaps i have not read more books on any subject other than Mahabharat and Rome. The 'Julius Caesar' play by William Shakespeare was my first exposure to the history and characters of ancient Rome and from this play there has been no turning back. 'Dictator' is last book on this subject and it is the concluding part of the Cicero Trilogy written by Robert Harris. When i first read 'Julius Caesar' i became vaguely sympathetic towards Caesar while Cassius remained a man 'with lean and hungry face' and Brutus an innocent man caught in the

murky politics of Rome. Mark Antony and Octavian are truly the heroes of the play. Then i read 'Ancient Rome' and i started admiring the cause of Republicans and assassins - Marcus Brutus, Cassius and senators like Cato and Cicero. 'Rubicon' is a serious work on Roman Civil war. This book has truly made me a hard core Republican and an eternal fan of Marcus Cato and Marcus Brutus. 
'Dictator' is based on the last phase of the life of illustrious Roman senator and great Orator Marcus Cicero; based on the writings of his one time slave 'Tiro' who survived the war. It was Cicero who tried to save the remnants of Republic from the tyranny of Mark Antony and over ambitious Octavian Caesar. He tried to save the Republic by exploiting subtle art of 'Balance of Power' but was outsmarted by Octavian and eventually murdered by the bounty hunters of the triumvirate - Lepidus, Mark Antony and Octavian. 
Its a serious work of semi-fiction and it unravels in great details the reasons of the break out of the civil war between Julius Caesar and the Roman Republic led by Gaius Pompey, Marcus Cato and others. After the defeat of Pompey in the battle of Pharsalus (48 BC), Marcus Cato continued fighting for the Republic and only after his suicide after losing the last battle for the Republic in Tunisia in 46 BC, Julius Caesar became the defacto ruler of Rome. Cicero gave the ultimate tribute to Cato by writing his eulogy in glowing terms against the furious opposition of Julius Caesar. 
In the end the Roman Republic got destroyed by the killings of the senators and sympathizers of the Republic by the bounty hunters of Lepidus, Octavian and Mark Antony and Rome became an Empire under an Emperor.  
'Brief is the life given to us by nature; but the memory of a life nobly sacrificed is everlasting' -- Marcus Cicero (106 - 43 BC). 
Highly recommended (8/10) 

Book Review [77] : Half Of A Yellow Sun

When you are in a Civil Services Academy and are undergoing Foundation Course, you wont find much time to read a book, thats why this post is coming bit late.

I became a great fan of Chinua Achebe after reading his classic magnum opus 'Things Fall Apart' couple of months back, my interest in Nigeria also rose because of this book. So i started reading 'Half Of A Yellow Sun', written by brilliant Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie couple of weeks back, and  every line i read was full of emotions and suffering. Its a story of a group of Igbo speaking people of Eastern Nigeria who got caught up in the brutal Nigerian Civil War (1967-70). Its a story of human emotions, family drama, war brutalities, love and revenge. Rich Nigerian lady Olanna falls in love with a university professor Odenigbo, who was living with his servant Ugwu. The story takes various turns and exposes ugly and not so ugly faces of human lives. How a rich couple living in luxurious house with all the facilities had to live in extreme poverty during the war is deeply moving! How their world of friends, relatives fell apart during the civil war! How poor women with drooping and thinning breasts struggled to feed their kids and died in scores during the civil war! How thousands of Nigerian women were gangraped? How people chased rats and lizards for food and how the western world overlooked the conditions of Igbo people and even supported the Nigerian regime to suppress the revolt of Igbo people in a most brutal manner! Its a great book and a must read for every one who wants to understand the post colonial history of Nigeria. Perhaps the current schism is Nigerian polity ossified during this civil war in which hundreds of thousands of Nigerians died and they continue to die even now. Very relevant specially in the context of India.

Highly Recommended (8/10).

Book Review [76] : The Oath Of Vayuputras

I started hating Amish Tripathi after reading his dud 'The Secret of Nagas' but he vindicates himself by writing marvel of a book in his epic trilogy. The 'Oath of Vayuputras' is a great book and meets all the expectations created by first two books, The Immortals of Meluhha and The Secret of Nagas. To be honest i am not a fan of fiction based on actual Gods and their stories but i cant deny the lucidity and great plot of this book. Although the climax steals some sheen out of this book but still its a great book to read and cherish. I read first two books in March 2012 and immediately liked it but i classified them in the genre of cheap fiction but this third book destroys that classification and redeems Mr. Tripathi to a greater echelon.

Shiva creates a grand federation of Nagas, Brangas,  Ayodhyans etc and destroys the evil Somras with the help of Divine weapons from Persia. Like the sacrifice of Sati in real Indian mythology, in this book also Sati dies fighting the enemies of Shiva and in his vengeance Shiva destroys the Meluhhan Empire. Amish brings the Egyptian cult of Aten and various other elements of middle east History in the plot making the already spicy plot more spicy. In the end 'Shiva The Destroyer' destroys the evil and balances the equation.

May be this style of Amish will take the legacy of Amar Chitrakatha forward and will popularize the rich Indian mythology among the masses of India. If i will ever have time, then i will write historic fiction about the wars of Gupta Emplire against the Hunas and their eventual decline.

Highly Recommended (8/10)

Book Reviews [42/43] : 'The Indus Intercept' and 'The Shadow Throne'

This week i started marathon of reading fictional books. Read two books 'Shadow Throne' and 'The Indus Intercept' with the main theme of political turmoil in the subcontinent. 

This book is an amazing story of a Baluchi insurgent group of Baluchistan. It exposes very eruditely the game played by various Spy agencies including CIA, ISI and RAW in the Afghan-Pakistan region, How these agencies use these insurgent groups for their own selfish tactical reasons. Amidst all the violence and espionage, this book beautifully portrays the love story of two Baluchi fighters and a reluctant CIA agent. The author has done a great research on the Baluchistan and the geopolitics of the sub-continent. The story hinges around a brave and principled Baluchi warrior who plans to create an insurgency to liberate his homeland Baluchistan from the claws of Pakistan and his exploitations of and by CIA, RAW. The use of Indus Valley Civilization script in this book is very interesting and intriguing. 
Highly recommended book (8/10)

This book was written with an 'anti-India mindset' and it really shocks and shames me that it is written by a person with an Indian name. The theme hinges around a nuclear holocaust plot by the RAW agents who want to see the complete annihilation of Pakistan by triggering Nuclear attack from Pakistan into India. In this book the ISI are the good guys while RAW are the bad guys and there are two Indian heroes. This book invokes Kushana empire and Menander rather naively and the ststrength of the entire plot is based on the legend of a great leader who will create a nation for the Hazaras in Afghan-Pak region. It took 4 hours to read this book completely. Strictly not recommended by me although it might be a time pass while traveling for some.
Not even a Time Pass (3/10)

Both these books can be ordered on Flipkart and they are pretty reasonably priced.

Book Review [20] : Warrior of Rome: Fire in the East

Warrior of Rome: Fire in the East by Harry Sidebottom is an interesting saga of a German "barbarian" and a Roman General "Ballista" in the middle east. He was appointed by the Roman Emperor to defend Arete, an eastern most city of the reign against the "barbaric' hordes of Arabs, Indians, Shakas and Aryans led by Shapur, Sassanid King of Persia in the middle of 3rd century AD.

He brilliantly defends the city of Arete against all the heavy siege machines and mine works despite of the fact that he had roughly 1000 men under his command against the 50,000 odd strong Persian forces. Finally, he was undone by the treacherous Christians who opened the gates for the Persians. He had to flee the battlefield with his entourage in melancholy and grief.

Harry Sidebottom thinks that Romans were the only civilized people in the world while the entire Asia and northern Europe was Barbaric. Romans fought for the freedom while Asians fought for the plunder. What a joke Mr. Sidebottom? It was Rome that destroyed and eliminated the great Carthage, the great Romania and the great Jerusalem.

Its a great work of fiction and every penny worth (I destroyed 7.99 Pounds for this book). I bought few more books from England including the biography of Barrack Obama.  

Highly Recommended (8/10)