(written on 31st Dec 07 , edited & published today )
This resolution is done and how !
Had vowed not to buy a single book in 07 and to read atleast 20 .
Whew ! it’s the 31st and am through with 22 !
And the only 2 books I bought this year were in Dubai ( P J O Rourke’s Eat the Rich ) and Hong Kong ( John Man’s Genghis Khan ) , not in India !
While I chose the books to read off my shelf randomly , there was an urge to read the ones that I had on my mind for quite some time to read . The final ‘read’ list had only 5 fiction titles and 17 non-fiction , of which 9 were on business and economics , 4 on history , 2 on sports ,1 each on sales , media and movies .
Here’s a mini review of all the 22 , not necessarily in the order that I read them in .
George Blainey’s A very short history of the World was a refreshingly fun 450 page history lesson . Tracing the epic journey of humankind over the last four million years from when the very first people left Africa to settle the globe upto the present day , it condenses the grand human adventure into a short gripping and endlessly thought-provoking narrative .
One of the first inferences George draws is called the Paradox of isolation . The worlds greatest financial powers , US and Japan have benefited greatly from the fact that there has been no invasion possible on them due to the vast seas that separated them from other countries . They also were reluctant participants in the wars fought in Europe which has seen many bloody wars over years over its lands and seas .
The second inference is the Role of Religion . Jesus Christ was a jew who invented Christianity which went onto to overcome Judaism as the largest religion in the world . Religion has resulted in many many wars and even today , it is the single largest source of wars in many countries .Mohammad was a skilled general who waged wars on Mecca , Damascus and Jerusalem and captured them to begin the Muslim rule for the next 1100 years . Buddhism was India’s only export to China . The Hindu religion did not make a significant impact .While religion was meant to unify , it has only divided the world more and more .
The third was a sort of Shifting sands of Civilization . From Egyptian to Indus to Roman to Greek to Chinese to Islamic and finally the American discovery. Each civilization played its role in pushing the frontiers of science , abetting natural discovery , feuding over religion and in the end consuming itself . Each was at its helm a powerful empire with great emperors and seemingly invincible . And each was at its nadir , crushed by its own glory . One larger than life ruler took the entire civilization to its greatest heights and the absence of a successor created a significant gap so as to finish the value , culture and ethos of the very society . The Greeks for instance were so engaged in vigorous internal quarrels and fights that they invented fierce competitive sports . The Olympics were created with the intent to give vent to the desire to win at any cost . The other great element of democracy – Oratory , was invented in Greece too . Everything was debated in greek society and open-air assemblies where powerful orators swayed crowds became the norm . Had they directed these energies to the outside world like Alexander had , Greece would have survived . Even the Romans had exceptionally talented generals ,soldiers , admirals and sailors . Romans improved on Greeks who were masters of the fights by seas , by mastering the art of making roads fast – thereby extending wars to far off places breathlessly . The Roman bridge is a work of art even today .
Finally as Britain started colonizing the world , France would engage with it in many bitter wars over years and between them , they would rule the world and influence the civilizations for over 500 years .
And as the world wars erupted in early twentieth century , over how much land each country should own , Britain and France needed more and more capital and the US stepped in to finance the war efforts in exchange for the ‘badge’ of global policemen which it is retains till today .
Henry Kissinger’s Diplomacy traces the history of the world analytically in the last 4-5 centuries . It stays away from history i.e. what happened but very critically examines the ‘power play’ between world leaders during the major diplomatic tussles in World history to illustrate why things happened . He examines critically the American foundations of Democracy and the debates that have strengthened it over years .
The world wars have been dissected brilliantly – the Versailles humiliation of Germany , the lagging behind of Germany in world conquests & colonization , and its deliberate attempt at world domination through wars is examined through the meetings and diplomatic intrigue between Churchill , Stalin and Roosevelt on the one hand and Hitler , Mussolini and Stalin on the other . Religion curiously interplayed diplomacy at critical junctures in history . Hitler , an Austrian by birth began a world war by walking over territories Germany had to surrender as part of the Versailles treaty and taking over Austria . Benjamin Disraeli , a Jew , was British Prime minister in the intermittent period of the war . World Diplomacy evolved from Austria’s Concert of Europe under Matternich to French Raisond’etat under Cardinal Richelieu to British concept of Splendid Isolation and later Balance of Power by William of Orange , the German concepts of Realpolitik under Bismark and later Weltpolitik ( global politics ) under Hitler . He traces brilliantly the evolution from Monarchies in 1800s to Republics in 1900s.
Along with Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas Friedman , would rate Diplomacy amongst the best books to refresh History from . Don’t die a ‘Beirut ‘ death is deeply entrenched in my mind as a remarkable description of life in half-christian – half-muslim Lebanon , forever on the brink of war . This one book is the best description of why the Middle east is what it is . Friedman attributes three key reasons for Middle East conflicts – Tribalism , resulting in high survival instincts as everyone acts as a wolf in the desert ; Authoritarism , with power concentrated in a single authority , coming in two forms – gentle as with King Hussain of Jordan or brutal as with Assad of Syria and finally ,the creation of nation-states by the west in polygon shaped countries to meet oil needs of the west . In fact , in Lebanon many rural tribes have changed their names to plural to look larger than they are .Beirut , as Friedman says has no truth , only versions . Israel has developed a remarkable scientific temper to control the religious chaos around it . Surrounded by Egypt , Syria and Jordan it is a constant epicenter of conflict .
The book opened my eyes to a portrayal of Yasser Arafat that I didn’t know . Arafat to me was the voracious speaker at NAM summits representing the Arab cause in the Arab Israel conflict . Friedman potrays him as a puppet – used both by the Arab world and the west to meet their own selfish needs leaving him as a leader without a worthy cause . Arafat made West Beirut his base and using the media there created the image of a cause by launching periodic attacks on the Israeli territories .
Friedman distinguishes between the four types of jews - Zionists who speak Hebrew , are religious and visit the synagogue comprise 30% and are represented by the torch , Yiddish speaking Herdim jews comprise 15% , secular jews who worship the Torah and eat steak make up 50% and Messianic Jews who reside in the West Bank are the balance 5% .
This is a must read for anyone wanting to understand the middle east . Friedman has since moved on writing about what he missed while he was sucked up into middle east politics – the world is flat , an outstanding treatise on the new globalized world .
Two liberating books , if I can call them that were Jim Rogers - Adventure Capitalist and P.J.O.Rourke’s - Eat the Rich . While Jim Rogers traveled the world to invest in various economies and profit from them , Rourke’s need was simpler ;- he started with wanting to know why some countries are rich and some poor . He took a two year sabbatical to visit six countries, three rich and three poor to study what makes them so. Jim Rogers commentary on world affairs makes for interesting read as he describes the population problems in Europe and Australia , Chinese work ethic ( there are more capitalsists in communist China than in Capitalist America he says ) , African depths of mis-governance and poverty even as they are commodity rich , Ghana’s slave factories , Mozambique’s extreme poverty and Tanzania’s tourism potential , the division of Africa into white ( south ) and black Africa .
Rourke begins his journey by trying to attribute reasons for richness or poverty ; thereby eliminating brains ( Hollywood with no brains is filthy rich while chess crazed Russia is miserly poor ) , education ( american students know what a condom is but don’t know 9X7 , natural resources ( Africa has more than all the rest of the world while rich Scandinavia is frozen most of the year ) , civilization ( Egyptian is in shambles and America doesn’t have much to talk about ) , government ( for millions of years mankind had no government ) , hard work ( well , the rich play golf ! ) and technology ( middle-east has the most complex technology in the form of weapons ) . He concludes that while love , death and money are three most important concerns for humanity , money is the least understood with people shying away from even trying to understand it
“Being Saudi ‘ for instance is a cool thing in Saudi Arabia as they build their country through working partnerships arrangements with people of Asian origin who come to do business but need to alliance with local sheikhs .
Rourke’s book is more organized – as he travels through Wall street ( good capitalism ) to Albania ( bad capitalism ) and through good socialism ( Sweden ) to bad ( cuba ) to bad reforms ( Russia ) to mismanaging resources ( Tanzania ) to overmanaging ( Hong Kong ) and finally potential ( Shanghai ) .. Rourke’s final conclusion on what works is the ethos of capitalism ; Hard work , education , responsibility , property rights , rule of law and democracy . A remarkable book .
The Adventure Capitalist is similarly a good read about his travels across the world in a custom-built Mercedes with his companion . It’s freedom in a true sense and have begun to fantasize about one such trip myself .
The next two books were Edward Luce’s In Spite of the Gods and Amartya Sens The Argumentative Indian , both turning out to be absolutely mediocre fare . After having read Gurcharan Das’s India Unbound a couple of years back , both these books were superficial and drab . Edward Luce’s book draws from both the other books so much that I could identify identical paragraphs ! He questions India’s dream of being on the verge of superpower status by contrasting the unequal development as 750 million of 1.1 billion people continue to live in 680000 villages with no roads , schools , healthcare or even electricity while a percentage of people manage to splurge on yatches and expensive real estate . Combined with the spectre of unemployability without any social security , India’s growth could be stymed . Contrasting Indian and Chinese growth ; he argues that while China developed first with agricultural reform ,then by moving into low cost manufacturing and climbing up the value chain to break into services , India started with services and has pretty much neglected the other two . Also , he distinguishes between India’s capital intensive growth which generates less jobs to labour intensive growth like in China’s which creates large scale employment and India’s large investments in higher education while China’s primary . His observations on corruption , bureaucracy , judiciary , reservations and the sychophancy are staid and commonplace . I realized in retrospect that a lot of Luce’s book is drawn from Amartya Sens work . Sen’s for instance argues that there is no growth without pangs . China solved its pangs ( illiteracy , health , land reforms , social equality) before it got into manufacturing and growth . India has jumped the ‘pangs’ bit and is growing with IT and services .
Micheal Lewis Liars Poker about the stock market and life of a bond trader in Solomon brothers made for a very interesting read . It almost mirrors our corporate life . Lewis takes potshots at definitions and culture - A professional is someone who can speak clearly , sit stiffly , shake firmly , sip iced tea neatly and while negotiating for a bond trading job , never never to mention money , but to talk about challenges in the job . He details life on the trading floor in the heady mid-80s when Solomon brothers was the most powerful and profitable merchant bank right through to its collapse when markets moved from bonds to equities . As life moved between the two markets London and New York , Lewis traces the rapid evolution and sudden debacle . As the market crashes this year in the US with its sub-prime crisis taking with it CEO’s of financial conglomerates and crashing Bear Sterns from a $120 stock to a $10 stock in 5 days , it is pure déjà vu .
New York Times Detroit based reporters Micheline Maynard’s The End of Detroit is an in-depth scathing attack on the myopic American automobile industry . As American markets evolved from hatchbacks to trucks and SUVs the big three American car makers focused on the new markets as hordes of clinical Jap auto companies rode into American markets and drove away with customers and global dominance . From 9 on 10 cars being made in 1960’s to 4 on 10 in the early 2000’s , Detroit has crumbled from its heydays as mecca of the auto business . She also points out that all the foreign invaders came in with clear positioning - BMW was luxury , while Hyundai was bargain – and knowing who their likely consumer was instead of being all things to all people . Toyota americanized itself over years to get to a $10 billion in 2003 more than the combined profits of the Detroit companies for 3 years till 2003 . And Honda had a distinct style of looking at the market one customer at a time and therby not launching a single car without having thousands of customers waiting for it at dealerships . Detroit , she argues was wedded to ineffective marketing gimmicks like rebates and zero percent financing , failed to meet customers real needs – reliability , latest technology and great design at reasonable cost .The American auto market eventually got segmented into small cars dominated by Japanese , mid-size shared by Koreans and Japs , luxury by Germans and Japs ,Minivans by Japs , SUVs by Americans and Japs and Trucks by Americans . Years ago I had read Alfred Sloans My years with general motors , which described the vision as ‘ a car for every purse and purpose ‘ thereby defining GM as a multi-product car company with a little product for everyone . Unlike GM , most of foreign companies never made industrial size their prority , but introduced profitable models . Putting together many interviews , anecdotes and stories she shreds the auto industry threadbare . While she ends the book with a simplistic five point manifesto ,which is easier said than done .
Paco Underhills Why we Buy and Howard Stevens Selling the Wheel on Buying and Selling were interesting takes on well, buying and selling . Selling the Wheel elobarates the 4 phases of sales as Closer , Wizard , Relationship builder , Captain and Crew . If I trace my own life it is pretty much evolved the same way . Closer is someone who sells and closes when need establishment is not so clear and one or two meetings are enough to close . Wizard is when one sells using technical knowledge to probably a group of buyer s. Relationship builers sell in complex environments and Captain and crew is when there are multiple levels of engagement and marketing needs play a vital role . A great book and an easy read, it is quite a page turner . Underhill on the other hand examines the role retail environment plays in encouraging or discouraging shopping by introducing many new terms – conversion rates ( number of walk-ins converted to buyers ) , butt brush factors (being jostled when shopping ) , tactile buyers , endcaps ( display of merchandise at the end of every aisle ) , chevroning ( placing shelves and racks at an angle so more is visible to a shopper ) , hand-allotment ( how many goods can a consumer carry and which hand for what ) , visual anticipation ( gap between entrance and product to build anticipation ) , power display ( a large stock showcased such that it slows the shopper down ) , waiting time ( for billing and trial rooms ) , interception rate ( percentage of customers who have some contact with employee ), density check ( snapshot of stores population ) , shallow loop ( a quick grab near the entrance – flowers , diary etc.) and open sell ( where all products are kept so as to encourage sampling ) . Lot of general gyan timed just as Indian retail takes off .
Alex Fergussons biography Managing my Life on how he moved from an engineering apprenticeship in toolmaking to playing soccer to be the manager of Manchester United . Sure enough Manchester United has accumulated success upon success culminating in the unique treble in 1999 wherein he won the premiership title , the FA cup and the European cup in 11 incredible days . This May they went on to win the Barclays Championship beating my fav Chelsea . One of the most important things I learnt from this book was the fact that all training is repetitive . The concept of ‘something new this time pls’ is a myth . Good coaching relies on repetition . He also belies the tactics myth – more than tactics , it is teamwork the individual brilliance morphing into team spirit is the way to victory . As he ranks no.2 in the premiership this year , surely a lot of these have stood in his good stead .
A completely different book was Pundits from Pakistan , by rahul bhattacharya on the Indian tour of Pakistan in 2003-04 . It was the first official tour after the Kargil war between the two countries and I thought the book would be fun . The problem with reading a book whose ending you know is expectation management . Slow in parts , it was better to have just followed the tour in the papers . Non-fiction by Indian authors anyway is anathema to me , am skeptical about touching them but this was different . How bad can be a cricket commerntary ? As Orwell had described sports – war minus the shooting – India –pak matches have always been the same . Intermittently , he explores the factors that add to excellence in performance in Pakistan cricket . For instance , Pakistan has been able to generate so many fast bowlers as generically , they are of good height and built , their diet makes for speed plus aggressive body language and their constant practice with the tennis ball – throwing a lighter ball builders better muscles . Having great bowling legends also helps - Imran , Wasim , Wakar and Shoaib . Most practice with an insulation tape wraped around the ball to help swing it right has resulted in the fast bowlers making a mark with efficacy . In India on the other hand due to weather , diet etc, , batting became more popular – Gavaskar, Tendulkar , Pataudi or even Sehwag .
The quartet of fiction – Hari Kunzru’s Impressionist , Joseph Hellers classic Catch 22 , Harry Potters Philosophers stone and Half blood prince , and Haroun and the sea of stories by Salman Rushdie were different in their canvas and literary treatment . I loved the premise of Rushdie’s Haroun ; its characters , their verbal interplay and possibilities was great , but I think he could have climaxed differently . The country Alifbay for instance is ‘Alphabet’ , the Dull lake , Gup and Chup , Khattam-Shud meaning finished is the Prince of Silence and Foe of speech and Haroun and Rashid named after the legendary Caliph of Baghdad Haroun-al-rashid . The premise that Rashid , the Shah of Blah , the Ocean of Notions suddenly runs out of stories by losing his gift of the Gab and his son Haroun seeks to return his gift . He encounters a mad bus driver Butt and a water genie Iff and travels through the magical cities of Gup ( where it is always light ) and Shup ( where it is always dark ) and wherever the story gets stuck , there’s P2C2E ; process too complicated to explain ! Rushdie at its best . Will read this again and again .
IN the Impressionist , Pran Nath the startling white boy is regarded as noble till his true parentage is revealed and then starts his search for identity in a world that has no place for him . Not the sort of book I will read again .
To properly enjoy the pre-booked Harry Potter JK Rowlings Half Blood Prince , had to read her first book Philosophers Stone . The book is an outstanding journey into another magical imaginative world with the Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry , Quiddich games and Dumbledores etc. A brilliant new world of make believe was needed to substitute the Alices in Wonderland and Enid Blytons .And JKRowling has managed to do just that .
Catch 22 is a classic . A war novel , it takes satire to a new level and traces the life of Yossarian , a soldier not wanting to fly any more missions .
The Disney War by James Stewart and Shah Rukh Khan and the seductive world of Indian cinema made up my entertainment and media reads this year .
The Disney war traces the evolution of the company since Micheal Eisner joined the firm in the late eighties to now . On how the company evolved from being a TV company to movies , merchandising and parks to the eventual formation of Buena Vista entertainment with Walt Disney pictures for animated movies like Lion King , Touchstone pictures for adult fare like Splash , Pirates of the Caribbean and Sixth Sense Hollywood picture for action fare like Pearl Harbour & armegeddon and acquiring studios like Miramax with movies like Pulp fiction , gangs of new york , Chicago , the hours and Steve Jobs Pixar with Finding Nemo , Cars , Toy Story and Incredibles . Disney’s strategy was to create Imagineers who would use creative imagination . A great read in corporate board management .
The best part of SRK’s biography was the comparisons with AB . The difference between Amitabh’s Vijay and SRK’s Raj . DDLJ buried Angry Young Vijay and brought to the fore Raj ; who wasn’t anti-establishment , he was a yuppie who worked the system to get results . He was an articulate global Indian who was equally at ease in a nightclub in Paris or in a village in Punjab . Raj was trendy and traditional and depending on the situation he could be progressive or conservative . He played by the rules or tweaked them when necessary . And unlike Vijay , Raj was not larger that life . He was scripted as ‘life’. The herogiri was gone . It was an age to be chilled out . Dramatic dialogue – was an essential part of Vijay’s heroic personae . One can still quote Amitabhs great dialogues from Sholay and Deewar . but Raj spoke in normal everyday language , he wasn’t overtly macho , he would starve with Simran when she would do karva chauth . He is sensitive , vulnerable and not afraid to cry . But has the strength and guile to outwit more chauvinistic men . Unlike earlier films Baazigar and Darr , Aditya asked SRK to take of his mask – no stammering , wounds or ultra-violence resulting in a new Raj . Vijay was working class , seething and sometimes brutal but Amitabh was cultured and sophisticated . SRK and Raj were the same ; every girls fantasy lover , every sisters brother and every mothers son . Raj represnted post liberalization 1990s India . Moral , not necessarily pious .
And after Hritik’s Kaho Na pyar hai spectacle Shah Rukh’s Raj had to find new meaning . Karan JOhar helped him morph into Rahul , the modern chic young upgraded dude in Kuch kuch hota hai and Dil to paagal hai .
Finally , Good to great by Jim Collins about why some companies make the leap and others don’t , begins with the line ‘Good is the enemy of Great ‘ .Good to great leaders are a paradoxically blend of personal humility and professional will . They are more like Lincoln and Socrates than Patton and Caesar . These leaders first got the right people on the bus , wrong people off the bus , right people in the right seats –and then figured where to drive the bus. They confront the brutal facts and yet never lose faith – the stockdale paradox – maintain unwavering faith that you can and will prevail in the end regardless of difficulties AND at the same time have the courage and displine to confront the most brutal facts of your business .A culture of discipline and adaption of technology and expecting results to come through a relentless push rather than one miracle moment . He defines the hedgehog concept ; while foxes pursue many ends at the same time and see the world in all its complexity , they are scattered and diffused moving on in many levels while hedgehogs reduces everything to a basic pursuit or idea . The way to choose the idea is either to decide what one is passionate about , what one can be best in the world at and what drives the economic engine ( profit per customer etc. ) resulting in a Big Hairy Audacious Goal .
