Interpretations offered are many. The reasons why it did too are many. But one explanation that has more to do with the state of the Indian polity than with the pernicious machinations of Pakistan in making militancy work in its own favour, is the one that Praveen Swami makes in his relatively-brief, lucid and sufficiently dialectical appraisal of the changing socio-political scenario in India and its immediate and inevitable effect on the Kashmir tangle. Not so much internationally, but more on its cascading effect on a secessionist tendency that had more to do with religion than with nationalism, says Subir Ghosh

The author may be an American professor, but there is nothing desultory, pedantic or academic about the book. In fact, the racy style -- somewhere between a Frederick Forsythe potboiler and a Tom Clancy political thriller -- is gripping, startling and thought-provoking, as John Moser makes a daring and almost impetuous foray into hitherto uncharted territory. He deals with facts (yes, they are hard facts) that people have shied away from talking about fifty years or thereabouts after the rabid anti-British feelings mellowed down, writes Subir Ghosh

The American military and the country's national parks have had a relationship since the time, the United States military conducted surveys of regions that eventually ended up being parks. The military was the initial protector of many of these parks. One of the last in the line --the Presidio-- is the subject of Lisa Benton's volume, says Subir Ghosh

The Nudist on the Late Shift is merely an urban legend in Silicon Valley, but he is representative of the many fascinating characters who live and work in this technical place. According to Po Bronson, Silicon Valley doesn't have any visible signs saying "You have arrived". However, in talking to the many different people who represent the diverse aspects of the computer industry, one can know that this is a place which is unique, says Cynthia Arbuthnot

WhenThe 1990s have not been kind to Los Angeles. As Mike Davis writes, "The destructive February 1992, January 1993, and January 1995 floods ($500 million in damage) were mere brackets around the April 1992 insurrection ($1 billion), the October-November 1993 firestorms ($1 billion) and the January 1994 earthquake ($42 billion)." But, he argues, the increasing fear about nature's reign of terror in Southern California reflected in Hollywood's preoccupation with apocalypse--L.A. has been destroyed on screen by everything from lava (Volcano) to nukes (Miracle Mile) to alien death rays (Independence Day)--is in reality a strong case of denial, says Amazon.com