Must-reads for political science enthusiasts

Let these books tell you how politics shapes our world

The Home and the World
Rabindranath Tagore foregrounds the advantage and the disadvantages of political violence in the context of the Swadeshi movement in Bengal in the first decade of the 20th century.

Raag Darbari
Shrilala Sukla’s satirical look at Indian politics was originally written in Hindi and later translated into English.

A Situation in New Delhi
Nayantara Sahgal takes a hard and critical look at the nature of power and political strategies in independent India.

A Fine Balance
Rohinton Mistry excellently chronicles violence in Indian politics, especially during the Emergency of 1975.

A Tale of Two Cities
Written by Charles Dickens, this is a wonderful book on the events that took place just before and after the French Revolution in 1789, and how it impacted people’s lives.

Ice Candy Man
Bapsi Sidhwa takes a look at the Partition of India from the other side.

1984
This George Orwell novel is a timely warning of the oppressions of a ‘big brother’ state.

Dr Zhivago
Set against the background of the Russian Revolution, Boris Pasternak’s novel, also adapted for the big screen, beautifully describes the chaos and the displacements that follow revolutions.

Draupadi
This book by Mahasweta Devi is a study of the possibilities of the human condition.
—Neera Chandhoke

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