Corpalism by Arun D. Ellis

Very interesting book filled with conspiracy theories about the Western world from a British angle. So if you are looking for a quick understanding o the underlying British rumble about the economy, NHS, women rights, xenophobia then look no further. The book will give you all the alter ate popular thought steams in a neat package. It's very good to read such material as at the least you will know. Some of the justifications and alternate reasoning was pretty interesting, especially about the banking crises and women rights. Although the Muslim terrorist bit was a bit disingenuous. But I guess you cannot expect an author to know everything about everything I guess.

Trickster travels by Natalie Zemon Davis

Found this book tough going as it is a proper history book of a Muslim traveller living in Rome for nine years. I was fascinated to read how much literary endeavours were undertaken by the Muslim noblemen of the 16th century at the tail end of Muslim power in the world much like the Western travellers of today touring the world. There are other similarities as well with the Muslim culture appearing to be much more sexually active and liberal as compared to the Western world back then. No wonder the Muslim had done so well.

The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki

I guess the book achieves most of what it sets out to do. It managed to convince me of this dark art where a crowd of people working together, with something to loose, are able to somehow come up with the right solution again and again. But this is certainly not a foolproof discovery, as some crowds like the financial markets can get it completely wrong. That is the bit I didn't quite get from this reading. What is the difference between an effective and a failing group. One suggestion was given as peer pressure, so this is choosing an option in hope of being accepted by the majority in the crowd instead of voicing your own impulsive opinion without fear of any recrimination. Coming from Pakistani culture I can relate to many instances where agreements are reached because of either peers or a bullish boss or some thuggish personality in the particular group instead of individual impulsive thought streams. Again, the human animal has managed to ride the roost in the animal kingdom due to their ability to work and live together. I guess this book highlights this basic  atavistic feature in all of us.

After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split in Islam by Lesley Hazleton

Finally, a book which explains all the conflict between Sunni and Shias in great detail. I really enjoyed Lesly's style and prose as she explained the great story as told by Muslims resources in a wonderful lucid way. For me the most interesting character was Mauwiya and the legacy he has managed to leave for the rest of the Ummah. I particularly enjoyed the way Lesley was able to draw comparisons history with current events. I would recommend this book to all Muslims whether Sunni or Shia as it will clear a lot of fog. Unfortunately for us Muslims, the fear of upsetting our brothers is so extreme that any mention of these events are scandalous at the least leaving this delicate job of explaining history to non-Muslims like Lesley. Most of the history has been picked up from the great work of Al-Tabari which makes it pretty believable.

Radical: My Journey from Islamist Extremism to a Democratic Awakening by Maajid Nawaz

I don't know whether to call this very autobiographical account of an ex-Islamist and very eloquent Maajid Nawaz inspirational or megalomaniac. I thoroughly enjoyed the Essex racist scene and his descriptions of his time in Pakistan and Egypt. He has also very eloquently explained the difference between Islamism and Jihadism which I don't really see as much relevant to the whole debate. The book is filled with self glorifying stories plucked from Maajid's personal life whether he was in the Egyptian jail or in front of David Cameroon where Maajid was always important. Typical self righteous approach displayed by most second generation Pakistanis. I wish they could pick some of the humility of the British culture as well. Anyway, Maajid has given me the impression of changing ideologies from a very extremist Islamic view to a very extremist Islamophobic view. Although he has claimed that the change was gradual but I believe that Maajid flipped to the other extreme because the Islamists ditched him in his hour of need.
I would have been more comfortable reading his account if he had turned into a full fledge skeptic. His conversion from being a Hizb Tahir to anti HT wasn't very convincing as well. Why he choose to reject on multiple occasions in his life, gestures from other Muslims is a bit beyond me as my own experience of living in UK has been pretty humanistic in general. How a well educated otherwise eloquent Maajid failure to grasp basic human to human contact confirms his megalomaniac tendency. I think sooner or later he will end up joining politics.

The good jihadist by Bob Shepherd

This is a must read for all Pakistanis........

If you want to know what the average Brit thinks about Pakistan at the moment, read on. This book has it all, Islamic fundamentalist pitied against American Christian ones, separatist like the Baluch's. Pathans, Sindhis, even Punjabis are up in arms in this page turner of a book. At times it seems a trifle paranoid and surreal with business like explanatory meetings happening right in the middle of a firefight but as a Pakistani I loved all the attention. I thought all the conspiracy theories with the Chinese and American interests in Pakistan were very interesting, and especially the focus on the Baluch movement. Money seems to rule the roost as very paradoxical Pakistanis are easily swayed by American dollars. I also enjoyed the difference in characters of the suicidal bombings adopted by Pathans and Punjabi have not taken up by the Baluchis. The books is filled with rich anecdotes which as a Pakistani I thought were very apt like:

'watching too much news makes you loose touch with reality'
'people love talking about themselves unless they have something to hide.'
'worst form of torture is silence.'
'The Baluchs are simple, he does not think unless we ask.'

Somanatha by Romila Thapar

Once upon a time there were no Hindus and Muslims in India but a rich and diverse culture with Turks, Persians, Arabs, Jains & Shivas. There was a temple in Somanatha dedicated to Shiva which was never actually destroyed by the Mahmud Ghazni, never once let alone seventeen times. The whole story is apocryphal, concatenated by the Colonists to foster their own take on history which was a pretty straight forward story, Muslims terrorised Hindus for centuries, forcibly converting them and destroying their temples, thus instilling a great hatred for their Muslim masters. The British finally came to the rescue of the pliant and slavish Hindu and saved them from the Muslim tyranny, thus Hindus should be thankful to their new masters. The author states that even after independence, modern historians have chosen to pick pieces from the British history without questioning its authenticity. The author has painstakingly researched Jain and other contemporary narratives and decided that the whole story was an probably a very elaborate hoax!! Wow.

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt

The book is a welcome addition to the field of Moral philosophy. It presents a good comparison between Eastern and Western description of morals, clearly siding with the Eastern approach which I think is wrong. Western 'individualistic' approach may seem off-hand and shallow but I find it very difficult to reject the Western achievements in freedom and liberty just based on a few months of research in India I am afraid. India is no comparison with the author's home country USA which the author has clearly being influenced with.

Nevertheless the author does a great job of explaining with a number of stories and analogies the difference between reason and impulsiveness, with impulsiveness and emotions clearly leading and reason coming in after with elaborate justifications. Again I tend to agree with this analysis of the emotions dominating our lives, but I was a bit surprised why the author missed a trick with not drawing more from the rich research available from the various religions of the world. Again the whole scientific term claimed by the author as a very new area of study is nothing different from hundreds of years of very rich studies already available on the religious shelves in countless libraries across the world. Religion is an old player in this domain and the author should have fully utilized the rich resource at hand.

There is one reference to the Quranic approach to apostasy which according to the author is clearly prescribed as death which is an untrue claim as given on the following link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostasy_in_Islam   

The book does a tremendous job of explaining the blind nature of following political ideologies by drawing upon examples for the Democrates and the Republicans in American political domain. It also explains the genesis of morals quoting from Darwin and the latest in evolutionary sciences.  I think the author does a tremendous job presenting morals as necessary but not in the real living breathing world.

India rising by Oliver Balch

Is India really shining? How is India reacting to the massive change in consumerism? How will the millions of have-nots and know-nots react to the change surrounding them? This book attempts to answer all if the questions above and more by interviewing and experiences people directly playing a role in this ongoing drama. The personalities are profiled diligently managing to leave a long lasting impression on the reader. I liked the wide cross-section of people interviewed from drivers right through to captain Gopinath, owner of Air Deccan. Books makes a very interesting read of the current trends in India. Excellent resource for sociology students.