A ride across the world of cinema to centuries of world history (Books This Weekend)

Posted on 13th Feb 2015 by mohit kumar

From a tribute to women like Revathi who fought conventional ideas and established themselves in the south Indian film industry to a journey through world history - from the French Revolution to the World Wars and beyond - this is what IANS offers its readers this weekend. Read on.

1. Book: Unforgettable: The Iconic Women of South Indian Cinema; Authors: Nalini Shivkumar and Rema Mahalingan, Publisher: Rupa; Pages: 264; Price:
Rs.250

Realising that "South Indian cinema has not got due recognition, despite its huge contribution", the authors felt the need to document the "female icons" of south Indian cinema - those who were the forerunners who paved the way for young women today to step into the industry.

From Manorama to Revathi, the book profiles 34 women who challenged stereotypes, redefined femininity and won the hearts of cinema lovers. Some of them entered showbiz at a time when "cinema was strictly out of bounds for women".

The book is an ode to these women who fought the odds and tried to make a name for themselves in South Indian cinema.

2. Book: History of the World Vol 2; Author: Roshen Dalal; Publisher: Puffin; Pages: 538; Price: Rs. 399

Beginning from 1500, the book traces the progress
of human civilisation across centuries - from the French Revolution to the decoding of the genome.

A continuation of The Puffin History of the World: Volume 1, this book follows the rise and fall of empires like the Mughal and the Ottoman while also highlighting how new centuries shaped their boundaries.

Packed with interesting quotes and trivia and also maps, this book brings history alive for its readers.

3. Inside Chhattisgarh: A Political Memoir; Author: Ilina Sen; Publisher: Penguin; Pages: 307; Price: Rs.399

Anchored by the happenings around the arrest, trial and conviction of civil rights activist Binayak Sen in Chhattisgarh along with the struggle for his release, this memoir by his sociologist wife illuminates their journey and "how their world imploded".

The memoir describes their years at the Chhattisgarh Mines Shramik Sangh (CMSS) trade union where Sen, along with a few other doctors started a hospital while Ilina organised workers' education and also joined struggles by women mine workers.

Categorically stating that the book by no means was about the 'Binayak Sen case', Ilina says in the preface it is rather about the life that they, along with many friends and colleagues, led in the region. It is also about the "richness of that experience and the lessons from those years".

The book celebrates Chhattisgarh while also lamenting the "lost opportunity for its inclusive and violence-free development".

4. Book: You Can Be Thin; Author: Marisa Peer; Publisher: Sphere; Pages: 211, Price: Rs.350

"It is not your fault that diets don't work" and "you can stop craving unhealthy food". Advocating these and similar solutions, the book offers an insightful and a caring psychological approach to weight loss and
management.

The book primarily focusses on methods that "really achieve a lasting effect" on the body and is written in a way that is "designed to help you re-evaluate and re-address your entire relationship with food and your
body".

Along with exercise tips, the book offers solutions to problems faced by addictive, emotional, habitual and also ignorant eaters.

In its attempt to help eaters refrain from the foods they love, the book also suggests that readers make the words and pictures unattractive and unappealing.

So, while cheese pizza becomes "glue topped with concentrated cows' chemicals and sugar", a breakfast muffin becomes a "nutritionally worthless cake full of sugar fat and preservatives".