Best indian & south asian biographies according to redditors

We found 125 Reddit comments discussing the best indian & south asian biographies. We ranked the 40 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.

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Top Reddit comments about Historical India & South Asia Biographies:

u/Throwawaybombsquad · 231 pointsr/HistoryPorn

Check out Eric M. Bergerud’s book
Touched with Fire: The Land War in the South Pacific. It does a phenomenal job at showing the reader that the environment is as much the soldiers’ enemy as the enemy himself. Malaria, dengue- and yellow fever, fungus, sword grass, snakes, and even crocodiles harassed soldiers in the Pacific as much as opposing armies.

u/tremblethedevil2011 · 13 pointsr/IAmA

I can't really speak from my own experience, but from military buddies I have it seems like whatever good we're doing may be undermined whenever a drone goes and offs a handful of kids.

If our foreign policy was just carried out with daggers, I think we'd be in a pretty good place overall... but it's not, and so the innocent people who die might be outweighing the good that's done in terms of infrastructure and everything else.

What's depicted in Three Cups of Tea certainly makes a huge difference, but from what I can tell our military and governmental actions along those lines are outweighed by the accidental innocent deaths.

And the shit like the trophy killings that just broke this week.

u/Meenavan · 9 pointsr/IndiaSpeaks

> Russia helped out india against America in 71

I have come to different conclusion based on reading different things over the years. I am going to present my thoughts and any contradictions are welcome.

I believe India was just an honourable slave of Russia.

During the cold war Russia was exporting revolution to lot of countries, and it succeeded a bit in South America and some parts of Southern Africa. It was close to succeeding in India.
I got this from a tamil blogpost[2] reviewing this book [1], the author of the book was the custodian of Jayaprakash Narayan when he was in jail during the Emergency for 2 years. and he writes about his interactions with Jayaprakash Narayan in this book. Initially when Jayaprakash Narayan was put in Jail, he had no idea why it happened, he was thinking that it would be just a short term arrest, then later seeing big leaders like Morarji Desai being arrested, and also seeing that the KGB funded Indian Communist Party being in full support of the Emergency, he comes to the conclusion that Russia was trying to install a puppet government with Indira at its head.

[1] http://www.amazon.in/JP-Jail-M-G-Devasahayam/dp/8174364293
[2] http://www.jeyamohan.in/6347

Few months back when the Emergency topic was doing its rounds in the MSM, I read another article in a tamil print magazine (sorry can't link). It was an interview with Advani during the Emergency period, in which the interviewer asks Advani, "why did National Herald (Indira congress's official mouth piece), a month back had articles saying Democracy is not good for India, and the next month their articles were praising Democracy, what made them change their tone within a month". Advani's answer was that Sheik Mujibur Rahman was killed in that month. Advani didn't say anything else. The writer of that tamil article gave an explanation that CIA had planned a coup in Bangladesh and assassinated Mujibur Rahman. and Indira was afraid that she would be the next. and the writer concluded that if we should praise anyone for ending the Emergency, it should be US. Indira feared for her life and brought an end to Emergency. There was not much internal pressure within India for her to end the Emergency. Even in the above book it says Jayaprakash Narayan was angry at the people for accepting Emergency so easily. Also read recently that the JRD Tata was also not against the Emergency because government offices were working punctually without bribes, and there were no strikes. so it was only US pressure that made her end the Emergency.

This video from a Russian spy working in India during this period, also adds some credibility to what I am saying https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDwibIy-3QM

You might think this all happened in 1975s, but Russia sent a submarine to help India in the war of 1971. Now this may go into Conspiracy theory realm, but I believe this is what could have happened from reading different theories. During the 1965 Pakistan war, India was initially not well prepared, and Lal Bahadur Shastri coming up from humble beginnings, was successful in rising Indian common man and Military (Jai Jawan Jai Kisan was his slogan) against Pakistan, and India was having an upper hand, and it wanted to take back the PoK. At this time he was called to Taskent (Russia) for discussion, and later Russia told that he had signed the agreement to stop at the current LoC, and he died in the night because of heart attack. In India the Congress syndicate headed by Kamaraj [4], selected Indira as the next PM, hoping that she would be under the control of the syndicate. but that went exactly opposite, Kamaraj and other senior Congress leaders, later tried to bring Indira down by splitting congress. Kamaraj even went and made coalition with his rival Rajaji [3], but Indira won the elections, and later she brought Emergency, and Kamaraj died during the Emergency period. So when Russia brought submarines to help India, it was bringing submarines to help its honourable slave nation headed by Indira. If you suspect, why would Russia want to kill Lal Bahadur Shastri, I haven't read any theories giving a reason, most conspiracy theories I read suggest that CIA killed Shastri. My guess is if India had taken PoK back, it would be very close to Tajikistan, part of Soviet Russia, and Russia didn't wish to a have potential rival very close to its border. Russian defence strategy has always been having a large land area as buffer between it and it's potential rivals. It did the same with China too, present day Mongolia was a part of ROC, Russia negotiated with PRC to leave Mongolia as an independent nation. May be PRC leaders were wise enough to know that it had to accept to what Russia demands, which Shastri didn't realize and got killed.

This 3 part series on India-Israel ties also goes into how India under Russia couldn't have it's own foreign policy to it's own detriment.
http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-india-israel-alliance-part-1-the-arab-world/

[3] http://swarajyamag.com/politics/the-rise-and-fall-of-the-swatantra-party

[4] Kamaraj, this is a person I am most sympathetic about, me being from TN could also be a reason. He spent most of his life for the freedom struggle, hiding away from British, rarely being in home. He was one of the major leader of TN Congress, the other being Rajaji of Swantantra party [3]. Kamaraj was truly a selfless person, and well respected leader. Never married, didn't save anything for himself. There are anecdotes about how he used to rebuke his Mother when she used to ask for small favours because of his CM post. Later Nehru made him the leader of All India Congress syndicate because of his plan to resign his CM post which led to many Congress leaders following suit and resigning their posts. and when he was the syndicate leader, he initially chose Shastri, which turned out to be a wise decision, after Shastri's death, he passed over many senior Congress leaders like Morarji Desai and chose Indira as PM. If what I infer above is true, then he must have been in his death bed, thinking about spending his whole life to free India from British, but later handing it over to Russia because of a bad decision :( Sadly he didn't live long enough to see Indira remove Emergency, and lose in the next election to Jayaprakash Narayan.

u/Batman_Lambo · 9 pointsr/pakistan

Another cookie-cutter article in American news showing Pakistan as some sort of an alien place which has gone off the tracks. If I had a dollar for everyone of these articles...

Jinnah's "secular" quotes are taken so out of context. It's crazy.

Islam promotes tolerance and freedom of religion. Jinnah's "freedom of religion"/"secular" quotes are completely in line with Islamic beliefs. The freedom to practice religion is not alien in Islam. It's promoted. Surah-Al-Kafiroon in the Quran is a prime example of that:

https://quran.com/109

Jinnah constantly called for a "Muslim" democracy.

A must read is Jinnah's last public speech. At the State Bank, where he calls for an "Islamic" banking system:

http://www.sbp.org.pk/about/history/h_moments.htm

A must read also is "Secular Jinnah & Pakistan" by Saleena Karim which completely debunks the secular Jinnah picture that some have painted.

http://secularjinnah.co.uk/

https://www.amazon.ca/Secular-Jinnah-Pakistan-Nation-Doesnt/dp/190662822X

This is a good little 3 minute listen, too: Jinnah's last words:

https://youtu.be/WheUolk-VGM

And, this is a good read, too:

http://www.unsecularjinnah.com/jinnah-quotes

u/thequeensucorgi · 7 pointsr/onguardforthee

WW2 too! I recommend reading Churchill's Secret War by Madhusree Mukerjee to get a full sense of how deeply it cost India to keep the British Empire alive

u/meanthinker · 6 pointsr/india

Read this - it was systematic death by exploitation for common people while a few at the top benefitted.

https://www.amazon.in/Churchills-Secret-War-British-Ravaging/dp/0465024815

u/trannick · 6 pointsr/MorbidReality

Haha, I would, but I don't think I qualify. There are so many other Vietnamese out there who would qualify. Hell, most of my family members (parents and older) were in the war. My grandpa on my mom's side's got a book written about him.

u/DrBubbles · 5 pointsr/GetMotivated

It's a bio-trilogy called The Last Lion.

I'm still only on the first book but it is fantastically written, incredibly informative, and a joy to read.

They are not a quick read however; the one I'm reading now is over 800 pages, but I can't put it down. Right now I'm reading about Churchill as a 21 year-old youth serving in the Victorian army as a second lieutenant.

Really highly recommended.

u/[deleted] · 4 pointsr/worldpolitics

>The US swallowed these cups of tea to justify its imperial aims

>Mortenson's feet of clay expose far more than one fantasist: they also reveal a lot about the naivety of Americans concerning the world and their role in it.

Uh...

---

Amazon UK ranking for "Three Cups of Tea" - #182

Amazon US ranking for "Three Cups of Tea" - #233

---

Ignorant anti-American, holier-than-thou, hypocritical Guardian writers. It was a great try though, Madeleine Bunting, and I'm sure that your editors agreed with you that once you'd pinned it all on America the fact checkers could head out early.

The idea that it was a fantasy for Americans only is ridiculous. As a percentage far more Brits I know were familiar with CAI than Americans, and what's more they (left-wingers who I'm sure love the Guardian) were all actively supportive of Mortensen and CAI as an alternative to what the Americans were seen as doing (drones). The accusatory tone of this article is bullshit unless you believe that the book was only read by Americans and that Americans were the only ones with interests in Afghanistan.

Bunting will probably get a bunch of article hits and a raise, though.

u/uw_NB · 4 pointsr/politics

Definitely, I would love to direct you to a book about Pham Xuan An(or this one). He was a 2 headed spy back in the VietNam war. In the intelligent community, underestimating people is the quickest way to defeat.

Everyone who have worked in this community that are still alive have many layers into their face. Each layer is a different perspective, different way that they would have rewrite history according to the final result. The truth is always burrowed forever and will never shed the light of day.

u/AuthorSAHunt · 4 pointsr/books

The Heart of the World: a Tibetan Journey by Ian Baker.

It's a non-fiction adventure-travelogue by a rogue National Geographic explorer hiking all over the Himalayas with a mystic sherpa looking for Shangri-La, dealing with shady porters, leeches, local weirdos, sickness, and, of course, the Chinese Army. It reads like Survivorman Les Stroud + Rudyard Kipling X Indiana Jones. It's pretty much my personal Bible, or would be if I were a religious man.

I am utterly astonished that it only has 51 reviews. It's one of the most enlightening, well-written books I've ever encountered in my life.

u/Tyfud · 3 pointsr/todayilearned

According to the biography, The Last Lion, he did not drink nearly as much as he led other's to believe. He'd typically nurse just a single drink throughout the entire day (a tumbler of whiskey). He had serious health issues early on that prevented his lifestyle from actually matching up with the stories told.

He felt it was important to give the impression that he was the sort of man he ended up gaining a reputation for, as he used this as a political tool.

The man was a genius in many ways. Writing, orating, and strategy were among his top attributes.

u/rwbombc · 3 pointsr/HistoryMemes

Read Nataniel’s Nutmeg if you want to learn about the spice trade during the colonial era.

Highly recommend

Nathaniel's Nutmeg: Or the True and Incredible Adventures of the Spice Trader Who Changed the Course of History https://www.amazon.com/dp/0140292608/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_8ctnDbFFAZQWR

u/erdle · 3 pointsr/pics
u/useless_idiot · 3 pointsr/atheism

This is a terrific idea. I might suggest that you sponsor schools instead of hospitals. I think the most deserving charity is Greg Mortenson's "Central Asia Institute" that constructs secular schools in remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The schools provide secular educational alternatives to Saudi-funded radical madrasahs. The institute builds schools for $25,000 and the schools are constructed with free local community labor and on community donated land. The schools often focus primarily on girls educational issues.

The official CAI website

Donation Page

Greg Mortenson on Wikipedia

Central Asia Institute on Wikipedia

Book: "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson

Book: "Stones into Schools" by Greg Mortenson

u/mistyriver · 3 pointsr/worldnews

If you're really interested in that part of the world... you might like to spend some time reading more in depth about what life is like on the ground, there. These are two good books you might want to check out: 1 and 2

And keep following the Al-Jazeera youtube channel.

I don't think that things are as black and white as you make them out to be, BraveSirRobin.

u/raks1991 · 2 pointsr/IndianLeft

Madhsree Mukherjee's book, Churchill's Secret War on how Churchill's decisions ravaged India.

www.amazon.co.uk/Churchills-Secret-War-Madhusree-Mukerjee/dp/0465024815

u/Fukitol13 · 2 pointsr/hinduism

in my opinion,reading history has taught me that Indian history is the repeated tales of muslims stabbing hindus in their backs.

and gullible Hindus falling prey to lies of brotherhood to begin the cycle again.

from the fall of vijaynagar empire in 1500'sdue to a muslim battalion of archers defecting in the midst of the last battle.

to the malabar massacre where over 100000 Hindus were massacred because muslims were upset at regime change in turkey

to the murder of tens of thousands to demand a seperate paakistan.

to the first military treason of india coming by a muslim regiment who butchered hindu soldiers in their sleep .

to the kashmiri pandit genocide that happened 3 months after a muslim was assigned as the Home minister of India.

http://www.indiandefencereview.com/news/kashmiri-pandits-offered-three-choices-by-radical-islamists/

https://www.amazon.in/Our-Moon-Has-Blood-Clots-ebook/dp/B00AWLAYWQ/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

this is a book by a kashmiri pandit who lived through the exodus himself.

u/malpingu · 2 pointsr/books

Barbara Tuchman was brilliant writer of history.

Albert Camus was a brilliant absurdist philosopher and novelist.

Jared Diamond has written some brilliant books at the intersection of anthropology and ecology. Another good book in this genre is Clive Ponting's A New Green History of the World.

Gwynne Dyer is an acclaimed military historian turned journalist on international affairs who has written a number of very engaging books on warfare and politics. His most recent book Climate Wars is the ONE book I would recommend to someone, if so limited, on the subject as it embodies both a wonderful synopsis of the science juxtaposed against the harsh realpolitiks and potential fates of humankind that may unfold unless we can manage to tackle the matter seriously, soon. Another great book on climate change is Bill McKibben's Deep Economy.

For social activists interested in ending world hunger and abject poverty, I can recommend: Nobel Prize winning economist Amartya Sen's Development as Freedom; Nobel Prize winning micro-financier Muhammad Yunus' Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism; UN MDG famed economist Jeffrey Sach's End Of Poverty; and Greg Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea

For anyone of Scottish heritage, I heartily recommend Arthur Hermann's How The Scots Invented the Modern World: The True Story of How Western Europe's Poorest Nation Created Our World and Everything in It

For naval history buffs: Robert K. Massie's Dreadnought.

Last, but not least: Robert Pirsig's classic Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Enjoy!

u/JustARandomCatholic · 2 pointsr/WarCollege

No worries, appreciate the good listing!

> Touched With Fire book you mentioned in your post?

Eric Bergerud's work, I started it a few years ago and enjoyed it, but didn't finish it and so can't give a comprehensive review.

u/busuku · 2 pointsr/Buddhism

I just checked the title, and since it doesn't have the word "encyclopedia" thought a link might be helpful. Enjoy.

u/two_bob · 2 pointsr/slatestarcodex

The Manchester books are terrific: https://www.amazon.com/Last-Lion-Winston-Churchill-1874-1932/dp/0385313489

A few peeves, though:

  • The Kindle version is more expensive than the paperback, which usually disqualifies it from consideration for me. In this case, I would still get it, even if I get a used paperback because screw those guys.
  • The third volume was written by his protege and is nowhere near as well written as the first two.
u/Nefandi · 2 pointsr/Buddhism

>It concerns me when you argue that those that have come to realizations are deemed insane.

There are two things I can say about this. First, Asian cultures, especially of Buddha's time, were much more tolerant of idiosyncratic perceptions. And second, yes, they were insane by our own standards.

Imagine walking up to someone and asking that person if they were a deva, and they say no, or a demon, and they say no, or a human, and again, they say no. Firstly, you'd probably never ask if someone were a deva, right? You likely don't believe in such a thing and don't take it seriously. Secondly, if you received a negative answer to a "are you a human" from an entity that looks decidedly human, wouldn't you think that person were insane or at least if not 100% insane, then at least not playing with a full deck of cards, so to speak?

Have you read a lot of hagiographies? I recommend a thick red book called "The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History." When you read it, assuming of course you do or already have, don't disconnect yourself from what you read. Instead always imagine yourself in the midst of the described events and ask yourself how you'd react and what you'd think.

I've read many hagiographies. I can say from myself that for sure many many so-called "saints" were absolutely insane from a modern/Western/physicalist POV. There is no doubt whatsoever about that.

I don't even need to go to a hagiography. Just talking with the Buddhists who rub shoulders with serious practitioners, I hear tales about what happened that in polite company would absolutely be taken as instances of insanity, psychotic breaks, you name it. Things like mind reading, are just the mildest forms of that. People tend to share such things with me because they know I'm not going to mentally crush them the way someone like you would. I am accepting of weirdness and so I hear lots of strange things. People subconsciously know I won't be hostile to a strange phenomenon just because it's strange, solely on that grounds, and they know I won't dismiss it out of hand just because it's not customary.

When you read about some of the deeds Maha Mogallana got famous for, tell me you don't think either the Suttas are joking, or Maha Mogallana was an insane lunatic. I mean, who can make a building shake by kicking it with a toe? Only people in straight jackets and only in their own minds.

>They do not strive for radically different perceptions

They do. Meditative absorptions and superknowledges are all radically different perceptions. Seeing the whole universe as if it were a nut in the palm of your hand is a radically different perception. Exercising any kind of unusual psychic power is a radically different perception.

u/prajna_upekkha · 2 pointsr/CPTSD

did work for me, maybe not for everyone: Hesse's 'Siddhartha'

​

Not fictional although it made me feel like I was in the adventure of my life all throughout the book, two years later I read The Heart Of The World. Only in retrospective can I tell how much this fueled my seeking, not in my mind but in, at last, manifest action.

​

I'll come back if I recall others.

​

u/Walter_von_Brauchits · 2 pointsr/GetMotivated

There's a pretty good book on this sort of thing.You need to go digging through historical biographies and text to get a more typical view of what life was like back then (I'd start with those I recommended above.. A lot of people, myself included aren't a fan of Churchill's politics, but if you look at him through the lense of his era and keep in mind his differences to you or I... As in we weren't born in a palace as the son of a lord, on a first name basis with all of the richest & most powerful gentry. Getting to hang out in his teens & taken places by the Prince of Wales/the future King, Edward VII (who his mother was probably sleeping with)) its a great read and will give you a decent insight into what life was like for both the gentry & the people who worked for them:

https://www.amazon.com/Last-Lion-Winston-Churchill-1874-1932/dp/0385313489


The book on how great today is:

https://www.amazon.com/Abundance-Future-Better-Than-Think/dp/1451614217

u/ElfWord · 2 pointsr/reddit.com

Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Rein

http://www.threecupsoftea.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Three-Cups-Tea-Mission-Promote/dp/0143038257

I received this book as a birthday gift, and haven't stopped loaning it to friends since I finished reading it myself. It's intriguing, insightful, and inspiring. The life he's lived strikes me as a non-fiction version of the classic Hero's Journey.

u/thecurseddevil · 2 pointsr/todayilearned

This is the source
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0465024815/ref=redir_mdp_mobile/192-7943566-6126142


While the statistics might have been inaccurate, it goes without saying that it was a result of policy failure.

http://m.ibtimes.com/bengal-famine-1943-man-made-holocaust-1100525

Ak fazlul haq even predicted the famine, still he was ignored.

Also Churchill's response when he was informed of the famine wasn't quite pleasant either.

u/DangerousPlane · 1 pointr/worldnews

Except for the last line, this story is a lot like the accounts of locals contracted by British map makers to explore the Himalayas in this book: http://www.amazon.com/Heart-World-Journey-Tibets-Paradise/dp/0143036025

u/DaManmohansingh · 1 pointr/india

Food stocks from India (and from Australia Wheat stocks) were diverted to the Mediterranean theatre.

British Raj officials themselves pleaded with London (Churchill) to release stocks off food, British Army said Med theatre had adequate food stocks, yet the food was diverted to the Med.

The famine was in itself caused by scorched earth policy which messed up rice production in Burma. There was no way the British did not know that cutting away the rice supply from Burma would cause a famine like situation in India. Interestingly enough, according to Amartya Sen the British position is made weaker. He says food production actually increased and if they hadn't been diverted purposely to the Med, the famine wouldn't have even occurred.

The level of food supply is strangely very murky (some observers talk about a storm in 42 that wiped out an entire season's crop, Amartya Sen talks about excess food supply) but what is clear is India lost a fair portion of the rice imports from Burma (scorched earth) and massive food stocks were diverted to the Med.

However let me quote Madhushree Mukherjee,

>>The Japanese occupation of Burma in March 1942 cut off rice imports, of between one and two million tons per year, to India. Instead of protecting the Indian public from the resultant food shortage, the War Cabinet insisted that India absorb this loss and, further, export rice to countries that could no longer get it from South East Asia. As a result, after war arrived at India’s borders, the colony exported 260,000 tons of rice in the fiscal year 1942-43.

>>Meanwhile India’s war expenditures increased ten fold, and the government printed paper money to pay for them. In August 1942 a representative of India’s viceroy told the War Cabinet that runaway inflation could lead to “famines and riots.”

>>In December 1942, Viceroy Linlithgow warned that India’s grain supply was seriously short and he urgently needed 600,000 tons of wheat to feed soldiers and the most essential industrial workers. The War Cabinet stated that ships were not available. In January 1943, Churchill moved most of the merchant ships operating in the Indian Ocean over to the Atlantic, in order to build up the United Kingdom’s stockpile of food and raw materials. The Ministry of War Transport cautioned him that the shift would result in “violent changes and perhaps cataclysms” in trade around the Indian Ocean. (In addition to India, the colonies of Kenya, Tanganyika, and British Somaliland all suffered famine in 1943.) Although refusing to meet India’s need for wheat, Churchill insisted that India continue to export rice.

>>With famine raging, in July 1943 Viceroy Linlithgow halted rice exports and again asked the War Cabinet for wheat imports, this time of 500,000 tons. That was the minimum required to feed the army and otherwise maintain the war effort. The news of impending shipments would indirectly ease the famine, he noted: any hoarders would anticipate a fall in prices and release grain, causing prices to fall in reality. But at a meeting on August 4, the War Cabinet failed to schedule even a single shipment of wheat for India. Instead, it ordered the buildup of a stockpile of wheat for feeding European civilians after they had been liberated. So 170,000 tons of Australian wheat bypassed starving India—destined not for consumption but for storage.

>>Meanwhile, the United Kingdom’s stockpile of food and raw materials, intended for shoring up the postwar British economy, reached 18.5 million tons, the highest ever. Sugar and oilseeds overflowed warehouses and had to be stored outdoors, under tarpaulins.

>>Of course Churchill knew that his priorities would result in mass death. In one of his tirades against Indians, he said they were “breeding like rabbits” anyway. On behalf of Indians, the War Cabinet ignored an offer of 100,000 tons of Burmese rice from freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose (who was allied with the Japanese), discouraged a gift of wheat from Canada, and turned down rice and wheat volunteered by the United States.

>>The War Cabinet eventually ordered for India 80,000 tons of wheat and 130,000 tons of barley. (Barley was useless for famine relief because it had no impact on prices.) The first of these meager shipments reached India in November. All the while, the Indian Army consumed local rice and wheat that might otherwise have fed the starving. The famine came to an end in December 1943, when Bengal harvested its own rice crop—at which point Churchill and his friend Cherwell renewed their demand for rice exports. Source

I strongly recommend her book as well, it is from this (and Sen's to a certain extent) that I came to the conclusion that the Bengal famine was not a famine, but a man made genocide.

Churchill's Secret War: The British Empire and the Ravaging of India During World War II

The Bengal famine was no different from the Holdomor in the sense that it was death by starvation caused wilfully by a government that knew it's actions would result in the deaths of millions.

u/ryuguy · 1 pointr/Sikh

If you want a really detailed account of Ranjit Singh’s empire and the downfall. I recommend John Keay’s book, in search of the tartan turban. It’s an account by the American artillery Colonel in Ranjit Singh’s fauj, Alexander Gardner.

u/eodtech1 · 1 pointr/todayilearned

Shopping for bombs. Recommended read.

u/LoveScoutCEO · 1 pointr/ForeverAlone

From fiction what about Sherlock Holmes? In the original books he is portrayed as the King of the FAs.

What about examples from real life? Leonardo DaVinci, Nikola Tesla, and George Eastman qualify. Charles XII of Sweden is probably the greatest general most people have never heard of, and despite being handsome, athletic, and a king, he was probably FA.

Winston Churchill was about the geekiest FA on the planet and goes on live a rich fulfilling life. Yes, he eventually marries, but he basically marries his first and only serious girlfriend at almost 34 years old.

To me that qualifies and because you mentioned books I suggest you read Manchester's biography. It is stone cold brilliant: https://www.amazon.com/Last-Lion-Winston-Churchill-1874-1932/dp/0385313489

u/amazon-converter-bot · 1 pointr/FreeEBOOKS

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Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, amazon.nl, amazon.co.jp, amazon.fr, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.

u/bhrgunatha · 1 pointr/suggestmeabook

I'd just finished Giles Milton's - Nathaniel's Nutmeg and then shortly after that I was inspired to read Redmond O'Hanlon's - Into the Heart of Borneo after meeting his daughter.
I discussed them with friends and someone recommended The Poisonwood Bible and it never even occurred to me that it was a novel.

As I said, incredibly embarrassed.

u/En_lighten · 1 pointr/Buddhism

The Nyingma School... by Dudjom Rinpoche.

u/Zealotjam · 1 pointr/suggestmeabook

The Last Lion. It's a three part biography series, and they're some of the best biographies I've ever read.

If you want to know about Winston Churchill, this is the definitive series to read.

http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Lion-Churchill-1874-1932/dp/0385313489

u/pizzaface12 · 1 pointr/worldnews

You can do something about it by donating to charities that support girls' education in Afghanistan. Last week I gave $25 to The Asia Foundation's Afghan Girls' Education Fund. National Geographic is matching donations at this time :)

Afghanistan has one of the lowest literacy rates in the world and one of the largest disparities in literacy between men and women (source)

Girl's education reduces child mortality rates, increases womens' independence, increases equality, leads to increased women's rights, and increases the probability that her children are educated (Reference - PDF)

I recommend these related books:

Half the Sky

Three Cups of Tea

Stones Into Schools

u/Thomas_Amundsen_ · 1 pointr/Buddhism

Oh, I forgot to mention that I was speaking from a Nyingma perspective. I'm not sure if there is Charya Tantra in Sarma, although I think there would be. One thing for sure, though, is that "Outer" and "Inner" Tantra is totally a Nyingma classification. I read about it in The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History by Dudjom Rinpoche. Charya Tantra is also called Ubhaya Tantra, does that ring any bells?

u/redbits · 1 pointr/Favors

my GPS

or...

an alternative suggestion:
I just read "Three Cups of Tea".
(TCT on Wikipedia)

Please take a picture of a teacher teaching girls, everywhere you go.

u/uber1geek · 1 pointr/mildlyinteresting

You can begin reading to understand the history of the Kashmir conflict.
So here are some suggestions, based on where I began my own reading, and drawing on easily available publications by Kashmiris.

  1. The good old Tracts For The Times booklet by Bajraj Puri - http://www.amazon.in/Kashmir-Towards-Insurgenc…/…/0863113842

  2. AG Noorani's volumes on Kashmir (you can also find many articles by him, from Frontline, online) http://www.amazon.in/Kashmir-Dispute-1947-2012…/…/9382381155

  3. Curfewed Night by Basharat Peer - http://www.amazon.in/Curfewed-Night-Kashmiri-J…/…/1439109109

  4. A Long Dream of Home - The Persecution, exile and exodus of Kashmiri Pandits by Siddhartha Gigoo and Varad Sharma http://www.amazon.in/Long-Dream-Home-persecuti…/…/9385436201

  5. Until My Freedom Has Come - a collection of short fiction, reportage, essays, news reports, interviews and a rapper’s song by Kashmiris, edited by Sanjay Kak http://www.penguinbooksindia.com/…/until-my-freedom-has-com

  6. BURIED EVIDENCE: Unknown, Unmarked, and Mass Graves in Indian-Administered Kashmir - a report by International People's Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Kashmir (IPTK) http://www.kashmirprocess.org/reports/graves/toc.html

  7. Do You Remember Kunan Poshpora? http://www.amazon.in/Remember-Kunan-Poshpora-Z…/…/9384757667

  8. You can read updates from the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) http://apdpkashmir.com/ and JKCCS http://www.jkccs.net/ - these groups post Facebook updates also, regularly

  9. Kashmir: Roots of Conflict, Paths of Peace by Sumantra Bose - https://kashmirebooks.files.wordpress.com/…/sumantra-bose-k

  10. Some other good readings are included in this list compiled by HT http://www.hindustantimes.com/…/story-PKmPCQ5WtigTwp85vvSpR

  11. An interesting article by Yoginder Sikand in EPW traced the shifts in the Kashmiri movement in the 1980s http://www.epw.in/…/…/changing-course-kashmiri-struggle.html

  12. Agha Shahid Ali - The Country Without A Post Office (poetry) http://www.amazon.in/Country-Without-Post-Offi…/…/0393317617

  13. Jashn-e-Azaadi - How We Celebrate Freedom - a documentary by Sanjay Kak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJnwGEk1fzQ

    Start where you like, these are not in any particular order. It is most encouraging that so many, ignoring the ugly trolling and hate-filled propaganda, are asking to know more on Kashmir. Yesterday's silent march also saw many come forward to ask to know more. Silence can break the media-scripted cacophony, a space of quiet can allow voices of good sense, especially Kashmiri voices, to be heard, and make for a path to empathy and solidarity.
u/mikoti · 0 pointsr/india

If one really wants to know, read "Our Moon has Blood Clots".
Or get Rahul Pandita to do an AMA.

u/popfreq · 0 pointsr/india

> Hitler wasn't better during WW2

From our point of view.

Different countries have different interests. Israelis put a higher emphasis on tragedies that affected them directly. Americans put a higher emphasis on tragedies that affected them directly. So do the Russians, Amenians, Polish and every other people. We are Indians -- why should we, uniquely in the world, put others major tragedies, ahead of our own?

Remember -- Hitler was not genocidal towards Indians. Millions of Indians did not die because of him.

We should not be ignoring the fact that the death of millions o Indians is more pertinent to us.

> Nope this is simply not true,

It is. See Churchill's Secret War

> Churchill did is in no way comparable to the holocaust or the evil perpetrated by Imperial Japan.

It is ironic you say that, because in the first para I pointed out that India gave Hirohito 3 days of official mourning when he died. Hirohito was the head of Imperial Japan in WW2. He wielded the power in a pretty hands on manner, often overruling his generals/admirals. To ignore him is a pretty large gap for someone implicitly claiming to knowledgeable in "real history".

>There is a tremendous difference in degrees. To say otherwise is to lessen the victims of the holocaust and the victims in most of eastern Asia.

Many magnitudes more of Indians died due to British Rule. Even the period covered by Mike Davis' Late Victorian Holocausts has around 30 million. I have sympathy for the family of Holocaust victims, but it is you who are trivializing the deaths of tens of millions of Indians.

u/Tritainia · 0 pointsr/europe

Hmm, I wonder if a website called the "Churchill Project might be a little biased.

Per Mukerjee:

>
The War Cabinet's shipping assignments made in August 1943, shortly after Amery had pleaded for famine relief, show Australian wheat flour traveling to Ceylon, the Middle east, and Southern Africa – everywhere in the Indian Ocean but to India. Those assignments show a will to punish.

In addition, the provincial government of Bengal never declared a state of famine. At best we have utterly incompetent and deadly neglect, at worst we have purposeful murder. Not that that isn't a common thread in imperial history...

u/Postgrifter · 0 pointsr/HistoryPorn

Here is the other post that I thought I responded to you, and I did not:

is plenty of evidence that it could have been prevented: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/soutikbiswas/2010/10/how_churchill_starved_india.html Here is a whole book: "https://www.amazon.com/Churchills-Secret-War-British-Ravaging/dp/0465024815/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481303289&sr=8-1&keywords=churchills+secret+war"
The common white-Western narrative that it was preventable is false. Here is a key piece for you:
"The scarcity, Mukherjee writes, was caused by large-scale exports of food from India for use in the war theatres and consumption in Britain - India exported more than 70,000 tonnes of rice between January and July 1943, even as the famine set in. This would have kept nearly 400,000 people alive for a full year. Mr Churchill turned down fervent pleas to export food to India citing a shortage of ships - this when shiploads of Australian wheat, for example, would pass by India to be stored for future consumption in Europe. As imports dropped, prices shot up and hoarders made a killing. Mr Churchill also pushed a scorched earth policy - which went by the sinister name of Denial Policy - in coastal Bengal where the colonisers feared the Japanese would land. So authorities removed boats (the lifeline of the region) and the police destroyed and seized rice stocks."
Read on the topic before using insults.
" I hate Indians. They are a beastly people with a beastly religion. The famine was their own fault for breeding like rabbits.” -Winston Churchill

u/ishouldpimlicoco · -3 pointsr/ukpolitics

580k military deaths.

If you add the 1.5 – 3 million Bengalis that starved to death due to exporting food out of India to feed European allies, then it would be in the millions. Source.

u/rack88 · -5 pointsr/IAmA

I don't believe that all of Islam is that way. Tell him to try reading 3 cups of tea sometime.