BOOK REVIEWS


Vayshnavi Ganesh 02 February 2015
In his autobiography, Amin Sheikh tells the inspiring story of his struggles and his successes with a simplicity that is heartwarming   There is no dearth of inspirational stories in literature - some long and eloquent, some short and powerful. In Amin Sheikh's autobiography - Bombay...

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Divya Malcolm 23 January 2015
One more in the global glut of books on how to influence people   Steve Martin, Noah Goldstein and Robert Cialdini—the co-authors of The Small Big-Small Changes that Spark Big Influence—have more than 50 tips on how to convince others. The highly anecdotal, smartly written 260 pages...

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Once in a while, one comes across an original book on the markets. This is one such   There are thousands of ‘experts’ who express their opinions on the market. Just a handful of them have delved deeply into the mysteries of markets, developed a robust method and practise it with...

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Sachin Tendulkar: 0, Cleaned Bowled. My Mother: 82, exactly   If God were to write about himself, there would be a million controversies. But when the God of cricket writes his autobiography, it becomes a best seller!   Though we have never met, in our home, no mention of...

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Anand Desai 12 December 2014
Journalist Thomas Bell explores Kathmandu’s past and coming of age   For a long time, Himalayan kingdoms remained unaffected by the landmark events of world history. When countries like Nepal and Bhutan opened up to the outside world—the latter still only allows entry to a fixed...

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Anand Desai 28 November 2014
Chris Paley’s new book on consciousness, the unconscious and thought   Chris Paley’s new book, Unthink, is his contribution to social psychology. Once a student of evolutionary biology and physics, it is his effort to add to a field where ‘revolutionary work was being done’. Unthink...

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Moneylife Digital Team 14 November 2014
Know specific competitive advantage to pick stocks better   Want to shortlist stocks for the long run? Look for companies that have moats, says Warren Buffett, the legendary investor. Moats refer to sustainable advantage that a company enjoys. It is not easy for a competitor to breach...

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Moneylife Digital Team 31 October 2014
War makes the Sate; the State makes the peace, says Ian Morris   Ian Morris, the distinguished and best-selling historian, argues in his book War: What is it good for? That while war amounts to mass murder, in perhaps what is the greatest paradox in history, war has made humanity safer...

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Vinod Rai writes about the major scams that shook the nation   Vinod Rai, the 11th and most assertive comptroller and auditor general (CAG) that India has seen, is the man behind uncovering major scams over the past few years: the 2G scam, coal block allocations, the Commonwealth...

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A strategy of buying the winning sectors, to beat the market index   For decades, US stock markets have provided a template of how to make money from stocks: you simply buy and hold stocks of large companies, for the long term. Then came the decade of 2000 when the faith in ‘buy &...

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An interesting formula that helps to buy stocks when they are down   There is a variety of ways to make money from shares. But, over time, it has become clear that all successful investing is based on accepting one essential feature of the markets: it is impossible to know what...

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Theory of Social Virality. Why certain ideas spread quickly   Malcolm Gladwell’s Tipping Point came out in 2000. The book attempted to explain how social epidemics are spread by a small number of special people, who he calls mavens, connectors and salesmen. It was an instant hit....

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The story of the most bizarre Indian business   Sahara: The Untold Story by Tamal Bandyopadhyay is a unique book. It starts and ends (on the back cover) with a strongly worded statement from the Sahara group. Perhaps this is also the first book published in India where both, the...

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Anand Desai 08 August 2014
Can War Teach Us To Do Business?   Essential on War for Business, edited by Pritsikha Anil and extracted from the writing of the Prussian General Carl von Clausewitz, offers to bring the “key lessons from the battlefield needed to succeed in the twenty-first-century world of...

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New age idea about that age-old challenge - sales   The Daniel Pink was once a scriptwriter for Al Gore, the US presidential hopeful in 2000. He has since become a business guru; his books investigate the importance of emotion and psychology in business. Three of his books have been...

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Anand Desai 25 July 2014
An American look at the Tibet story   The book begins with the West’s earliest encounters with Tibet, the mythical land, variously described as heavenly, tortuous and Shangri-La. These early descriptions follow the usual imperialist narrative for all faraway lands—a gaze that starts...

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A trip through the exotic land of venture capital  No other facet of the financial sector is more mysterious, risky, rewarding, romantic and creative than venture capital (VC). Stories of entrepreneurs, with a bright idea, backed by venture capitalists and going on to create sensational...

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This 'Little Book' is a selection from Jack D. Schwager's classic set of four previous 'Market Wizards' books. In any list of ‘must-read’ books on trading, you would certainly find two titles of Jack Schwager: Market Wizards and The New Market Wizards. These two books—and a few later...

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Anand Desai 27 June 2014
A look at how gods and goddesses play a pivotal role in deciding trends in the Indian marketplace This book provides a trivia-heavy look at the pervasiveness of religion in India, from the point of view of the fast-moving urban Indian. Even though breezy, the book is valuable, especially...

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India is not the easiest place to get your head around. This book gives a value investor’s guide to investing in India India has more than 6,000 listed companies, but formal research is available only for some hundred-odd companies. Therefore, the Indian market is rife with mis-pricing...

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