Military reform 30 years on America’s Defense Meltdown edited by Winslow T Wheeler After reading this book one can only conclude that with the US military's budget at some trillion dollars annually, and mismanagement and bureaucracy at their highest levels since the Vietnam war, the time is ripe for major reform in the Pentagon and the military-industrial complex. But the authors don't just criticize, they also offer sober, detailed solutions. - David Isenberg (Nov 26,'08)

Political whores go biblical Diary of a Jetsetting Call Girl by Tracy Quan This saucy diary rises like a French bedroom souffle, baked at a high heat, Provence style. But it is often more perspicacious than sexy, using a galaxy of well-drawn characters to passionately tease out the real human emotions and politics of sex work. It also juxtaposes these realities with biblical introspection on Mary Magdalene, the patron saint of all call girls, even ones with $2,500 handbags and Manhattan banker husbands. - Muhammad Cohen (Nov 21,'08)

Pseudo-intellectualism on Iran Iran: A People Interrupted by Hamid Dabashi Full of factual errors and self-contradictions, this flawed history of Iran's past 200 years often offers little more than a soap box for the author's outdated anti-colonial arguments. The book's credibility is further damaged by distasteful attacks on other scholars and his lazy approach to analysis of post-revolutionary Iran's complex political arena. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi (Nov 14,'08)

Subprime - an (im)morality tale Confessions of a Subprime Lender by Richard Bitner At one end, Wall Street's highest high-flyers; at the other end, low-income, or no-income, Americans with a contract to sign for a house beyond their financial dreams. Between them the salesperson with the smile, with the talk, with the pen that will seal the deal. And now with a morality tale fit for our bankrupt times. - Julian Delasantellis (Nov 7,'08)

Universally rejected The Politics of Chaos in the Middle East by Oliver Roy The George W Bush administration, led by "universalists", believed the "American experience" was the perfect model to stamp on the peoples of the Middle East. But this has instead created instability and, in some countries, chaos. The conclusions to be drawn from the book are that the US should be more accommodating to the traditions of the Muslim world and that it should reach out to pragmatic Muslim nationalists, for example those in Iran. - Dmitry Shlapentokh (Oct 31,'08)

Graveyard of Indian idealism Tibet: The Lost Frontier by Claude Arpi India threw up its hands and presented Tibet to China in 1950, its leaders naively believing that the future of Asia depended on a chimerical "eternal friendship" with China. This book expertly relates how Beijing seized the opportunity, gaining a capitulation which humiliated India as a "paper tiger", and opening a gateway for the Chinese army to the Indian sub-continent - Sreeram Chaulia (Oct 24,'08)

Sharansky's mistaken identity We must belong to cultures and nations, author Natan Sharansky asserts, rather than to the insipid soup of global citizenship. The trouble is that some identities are hostile to other identities by nature. From Ireland to Afghanistan, for example, the identities of all tribes and nations have become a response to Israel. - Spengler (Oct 20,'08)

Delinking options on Iran Iran: Assessing US Strategic Options edited by James J Miller, Christine Parthemore and Kurt N Campbell Architects of a new US foreign policy on Iran should shun this toxic compendium, which recommends a dangerous military-diplomatic cocktail in dealing with Tehran. The authors call for "turbocharged sticks" and "periodic refresher" strikes, rather than the real solution - nuclear ambitions which are verified, fully monitored and peaceful. - Kaveh L Afrasiabi (Oct 17, '08)

Gambling, growth and imagination Paul Krugman this week won the Nobel Prize in economics for his "analysis of trade patterns and location of economic activity". Reuven Brenner would have been a more deserving winner. Rather than put bells and whistles on the conventional economic model - now in cataclysmic breakdown - Brenner yanks economics inside-out by placing risky behavior at its center. (Oct 14, '08)

Asians one and all Pan-Asianism in modern Japanese history, edited by Sven Saaler and J Victor Koschmann The essays in this book reconstruct the development of Pan-Asianism - the assumption that Asians should be united - as one of the most important trends in modern Japanese history. One of the crucial points in the study of Pan-Asianism is its application and relation to real life, yet this is entirely ignored by the authors. - Dmitry Shlapentokh (Oct 3, '08)

A peek into a Persian paradox The Ayatollah Begs to Differ by Hooman Majd Raised and educated in the West before working closely with two Iranian presidents, Majd is the perfect raconteur to give a deeper perspective on Iran and its relationship with America. Part autobiography, part political reporting, the book juxtaposes a disarming view of the contradictions in Iranian society with sweeping insights into the nation's political affairs, international relations and culture. - Ian Chesley (Sep 26, '08)

'We blew her to pieces' Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan by Aaron Glantz This gut-wrenching chronicle gives vivid and searing accounts of the devastation the United States occupation has brought to Iraq, as well as to its own soldiers. Compiled from emotionally charged testimonies and under the guidance of the Iraq Veterans Against the War, this is an important and disturbing account of "the true face of war". - Dahr Jamail (Sep 19, '08)

The ashes of American morality The Dark Side by Jane Mayer The core of the book is a dissection of the United States' reaction to the September 11 attacks and how it led to the "war on terror" - a war the author describes in all its sordid details. The deduction drawn is that the US has seen many of its core values eroded to the point of endangering the very principals on which American society is allegedly based. - Alexander Casella (Sep 5, '08)

Rebranding 9/11 The Second Plane by Martin Amis This incendiary collection of short stories and articles smolders like the rubble of the twin towers. Taking on fundamentalism, Islamism in particular, as well as the West, in absorbing, dialectic prose he scores a direct hit against victim and victors alike. - Julian Delasantellis (Aug 29, '08)

Chronicle of errors Descent Into Chaos by Ahmed Rashid Hopes that the US's direct involvement in Afghanistan would lead to a terrorism-free region have gone. Rashid, an insightful and revealing chronicler, rightly identifies the need for a reshaped Pakistan if peace in the region is to be found. - Sreeram Chaulia (Aug 8, '08)

Tarnished 'truth' The New Paradigm for Financial Markets by George Soros Economists teaching us that we are creatures of the market claim a universal "truth" that limits questions about what life is for. As the US financial crisis deepens and, Soros argues, heralds the end of an economic era, his message should get a hearing in the debate over what system of exchange replaces it. - Nicholas Kiersey (Aug 1, '08)

Middle Kingdom deciphered Smoke and Mirrors by Pallavi Aiyar This nuanced analysis from the first and only Chinese-speaking Indian foreign correspondent to reside in China deciphers the Middle Kingdom in a witty and illuminative account that has flashes of a classic. Aiyar soaks into Chinese culture, society, economics and politics and reaps rich rewards by capturing what every author dreams of - the essence of the subject matter. - Sreeram Chaulia (Jul 11, '08)

Over-the-counter cloak and dagger Spies For Hire by Tim Shorrock Intelligence contracting has become a US$45 billion industry for the United States government, and about 75% of the employees at the National Security Agency are actually "private-sector spooks". After reading this groundbreaking investigation of the intelligence-industrial complex, one realizes that if James Bond were operating today he would have a contract, not a license, to kill. - David Isenberg (Jul 3, '08)

How history shaped the Pearl of Asia Phnom Penh - A Cultural and Literary History by Milton Osborne Wearing a white sharkskin suit, a 22-year-old Milton Osborne first visited Phnom Penh in 1959 where he met British writer Somerset Maugham and began a long and affectionate affair with the beautiful but troubled Cambodian capital. Osborne has now compiled a half-century of observations into a tender portrait of Phnom Penh and an analysis of how the course of Cambodian history has shaped it. - Andrew Symon (Jun 27, '08)

No longer just goodies for the top 1% The Trillion Dollar Meltdown by Charles R Morris The time for Milton Friedman's theories, like those of Keynes, previously a generation's benchmark for economic decision-making, is up. At this turning point, Morris pins down an unusual suspect for the present epochal economic crisis and foresees the dawn of a period more concerned with the whole of society rather than just its blessed 1%. - Julian Delasantellis (Jun 20, '08)

Asia's awesome threesome Rivals by Bill Emmott Any friendship between China, India, and Japan is a facade, argues Bill Emmott in his new book on the inter-state rivalry and its consequences for the world. Asia's "Big Three" are prone to suspicions and jealousies due to their highly competitive and strategic environment and this has led to a complex "new Asian drama". Emmott's yen for futurology yields interesting speculations but his premise of a is illogical and bypasses the impact of Russo-American tensions. - Sreeram Chaulia (Jun 13, '08)

The people's new opium China's New Confucianism by Daniel A Bell Confucianism is resurgent in China, with its proponents aiming to re-enshrine moral standards for a nation undergoing dizzying change. Surprisingly, a Westerner is at the forefront and in this book he tackles issues ranging from why Confucianism is important today to the reason senior communist leaders always dye their hair black. - Sunny Lee (Jun 6, '08)

Life and death in the Bible The power of God for Christians and Jews by Kevin J Madigan and Jon D Levenson Theology should reclaim its lost throne as queen of the sciences because it is a guide to the issues that decide the life and death of nations. In this splendid book, the authors have done an enormous service to their own and to many other disciplines by clarifying the Biblical understanding of life and death. - Spengler(May 27, '08)

Tell-tale travelers' tales  Russia and Iran in the Great Game by Elena Andreeva Opinion in Russia today on Iran is divided over whether or not to engage the country. This same division existed in the late 19th century, the era on which the author focuses, using the writings of Russian travelers to Iran. What the lively book lacks is a comparison of what European travelers to Russia felt. -Dmitry Shlapentokh  (May 16, '08)

A new voice to Paine's cry of rebellion Bad Money by Kevin Phillips Four decades ago, author Phillips showed how a coalition of the new Sunbelt and the old white South would come to create a long-term Republican majority. Two decades is long-term enough for him, and he now declares rebellion against the entire American establishment controlling a near bankrupt country devoid of serious financial debate and civic engagement. - Joe Costello (May 9, '08)

America's university of imperialism Soldiers of Reason by Alex Abella The RAND Corporation was the Cold War granddaddy think-tank of them all, one of the most unusual private organizations in the field of international relations, and it's still with us. It helped administrations plan and fight the Vietnam War, turning theory into an all-too-grim reality. Yet its record of advice on cardinal policies involving war and peace, arms races and decisions to resort to armed force has been abysmal. - Chalmers Johnson (May 2, '08)

The Fed's king of bubbles Greenspan's Bubbles - The Age of Ignorance at the Federal Reserve by William Fleckenstein Alan Greenspan did not have to wait long before his reputation for guiding the US economy to a new age of economic prosperity was stripped of plausibility. The financial crisis now of global reach was underway well before his long tenure as US Federal Reserve chairman came to an end. The man's folly, and that of his obsequious inquisitors in Congress, is now fully exposed. - Julian Delasantellis   (Apr 25, '08)

Asia pushes, West resists The New Asian Hemisphere by Kishore Mahbubani A turbulent era of de-Westernization has begun in Asia, and Western societies, apprehensive about Asia's galloping modernization, fear the world order built to sustain their domination will be overthrown. This could be a good thing, the enlightening book suggests, if the West could learn to work with, rather than against, Asia's renaissance. - Sreeram Chaulia (Apr 18, '08)

Beyond the statue's cold frown Young Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore The early years of Joseph Stalin make for an exotic tale. Widowed at 22, Stalin's heart turned to socialism and he soon grew into a gangster chief, a four-time political exile and a talented poet. In evocative prose, Montefiore casts new light on a man whose name is a byword for ruthless and dictatorial government and at the same time adds depth and context to a dominant 20th century leader. - Fraser Newham (Apr 11, '08)

A neo-con in the works Surrender Is Not an Option by John Bolton The Yale-educated son of a Boston firefighter, Bolton makes no secret of his contempt for liberal thinking and his urge for confrontation. The controversial former US ambassador to the United Nations explains his decision to go it alone at the UN with a mission to "improve America's position" rather than to improve the organization. Bolton eventually failed on both counts because his hardline approach kept him from realizing that the two are inextricably linked. - Alexander Casella (Apr 4, '08)

The flawed golden goose Blind Men and the Elephant by Was Rahman and Priya Kurien The IT industry helped revolutionize the global economy, yet its practitioners frequently fail to grasp business basics, deliver projects late - if it all and with questionable benefits - while also communicating dismally with customers, the authors argue. India' success in getting these things right, notwithstanding lingering complacent habits elsewhere and a lack of forward vision, leave many in the industry ill-prepared to face a downturn. - Sreeram Chaulia (Mar 28, '08)

Larger than life Tell Me a Story by Kevin Sinclair Sinclair epitomized the swashbuckling, hard-drinking journalists of yesteryear, and his memoir is sure to stir nostalgia for the days of inebriated gatherings of close-knit China scribes in Hong Kong. Sinclair was the leader of the pack, and his descriptions of crazy stories and eccentric personalities are an important backdrop to the history of Hong Kong and China. - Kent Ewing (Mar 20, '08)

Ancient tactics for modern battles The 36 Secret Strategies of the Martial Arts by Hiroshi Moriya The ancient Chinese maxims featured in the book encapsulate some of the Far East's most cunning tactics for battle and deception. In the end, it's useful, and surprisingly applicable, advice for how to counter the actions of any tough opponent - be it in contemporary business, politics, diplomacy or sport. - Michael Jen-Siu (Mar 14, '08)

Bare bones of Suharto's secrets Sukarno and the Indonesian Coup by Helen-Louise Hunter The tumultuous events of 1965 that led to the end of Sukarno's rule and the rise of Suharto's New Order regime have been described as some of the most significant of the 20th century, not just for Indonesia but internationally. Yet questions linger as to Suharto's role in making things happen and the dark hand of the United States. - Andrew Symon (Mar 7, '08)

From local fight to global struggle Russia's Islamic Threat by Gordon M Hahn Although the Chechen war started as a nationalistic exploit, with the desire to liberate Chechens from Russia and build an independent state, it has transformed itself into a jihadi movement with global appeal. - Dmitry Shlapentokh (Feb 29, '08)

Hong Kong and the oral tradition The Man Who Owned All the Opium in Hong Kong by Jonathan Chamberlain Hong Kong's Peter Hui was, at various times, a gambler, a tailor and CIA agent. At one point he also controlled an awful lot of opium. Hui’s remembrance of his riotous life give a rare peek at the Hong Kong of yesteryear - the opium dens, the pool halls, the nightclubs, the casinos and the girls, girls, girls. The protagonist’s triumphs and tragedies underscore the dynamism of the city and the times that shaped him. - Kent Ewing (Feb 22, '08)

Unglobalized at the edges Bound Together by Nayan Chanda A noted former journalist joins the ranks of commentators on the modern globalization phenomenon with an account that avoids hectoring tones while taking note of the large numbers of people still desperate to join the globalized network - a population that represents, he says, a moral and practical challenge to the developed world. - Scott B MacDonald (Feb 15, '08)

Regrettable apology for Myanmar Promoting Human Rights in Burma by Morten B Pedersen A Danish academic and author who favors "constructive engagement" with the Myanmar junta does himself and his cause no favors with his book. Riddled with flawed arguments, factual errors and dismissive of the monk protests, the work is not going to enhance his reputation among Myanmar citizens who favor a return to democracy. - Bertil Lintner (Feb 8, '08)

One mainland, two systems Rural Democracy in China by Baogang He An in-depth study of China's rural election system finds that the grassroots semi-competitive polls have given birth to a "mixed regime" that, despite contradictions, fortifies the Communist Party's supremacy. - Sreeram Chaulia (Feb 1, '08)

Black turbans rebound Koran, Kalashnikov and Laptop by Antonio Giustozzi In this revealing book, the reasons for the resurgence of the "new" Taliban in Afghanistan are made clear. The internal weaknesses of the Afghan state - particularly the limp-wristed administration of President Hamid Karzai - opened the window for the insurgents to re-establish themselves. They also have less rigid attitudes than their 1994-2001 predecessors towards technologies like the Internet and video production. - Sreeram Chaulia (Jan 25, '08)

A fresh look at terrorism's roots Leaderless Jihad by Marc Sageman Everything the George W Bush administration purports to know about the roots of terrorism is wrong, and a book that boldly goes where none has gone before explains why. Case studies show what various members of al-Qaeda have in common - and it's not what White House experts would have us believe. - David Isenberg (Jan 18, '08)

Smugglers' blues Reefer Men by Tony Thompson Their dreams of one last big score ended with prison terms in the United States, but before the iron doors shut behind them a diverse group of Bangkok-based expat drifters, military veterans, a Thai politician and a bar owner smuggled tons of Thai stick successfully for more than 10 years. Their lives and high (and low) times are ably recorded in entertaining fashion. - Bertil Lintner (Jan 11, '08)

Beyond the bombast The Nuclear Sphinx of Tehran by Yossi Melman and Meir Javedanfar Much fury and folderol has been spent over Iran's nuclear program and President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, most driven by fear or near-paranoia. This is an in-depth, level-headed and enlightening analysis - at one time Tehran's nuclear ambitions were assisted by the US government - and also covers the circumstances that brought Ahmadinejad to power. - David Isenberg (Jan 4, '08)

The secret library of hope 12 books to stiffen your resolve There's no need to curl up in despair when faced with a grim world. There are a handful of books that offer a "secret library of hope". None of them deny the awful things going on, but they approach them as if the future is still open to intervention rather than an inevitability. In describing how the world actually gets changed, they give us the tools to change it again. These range from Aung San Suu Kyi's The Voice of Hope to William Morris' 19th-century utopian novel News from Nowhere. - Rebecca Solnit (Dec 21, '07)

The great survivor India After Gandhi by Ramachandra Guha Historian Guha presents a critical yet tender portrait of six decades of Indian independence. Referring to what he calls a "unique patriotism", Guha theorizes that India's oneness, and its at times surprising indivisibility, are indebted to an array of liberal freedoms and efficient institutions, among them the professional civil service, the English language and the cricket team. - Sreeram Chaulia  (Dec 14, '07)

A sad moon rising Yakuza Moon: Memoirs of a Gangster's Daughter by Shoko Tendo This is a vivid and shocking tale of the tumultuous and tragic life of a daughter of a yakuza crime boss. While her book does not serve up a detailed guide to the ins and outs of Japan's fabled underworld, it's a candid, deeply personal and often graphic account of life in the country's underbelly. - Bertil Lintner (Dec 7, '07)

An over-traveled road China Road by Rob Gifford While the book offers some engaging and colorful reportage for Sino-neophytes, it's largely familiar territory for old China hands. The author knows his territory, but lets his Christian moralizing hold sway a little more than he should when passing judgement on the future of a godless, but not necessarily immoral, nation of 1.3 billion. - Dinah Gardner (Nov 30, '07)

Non compos POTUS Shadow Warriors by Kenneth R Timmerman Intelligence is an adjunct of war-fighting; it cannot compensate for a failed plan. Former US president Ronald Reagan won the intelligence war against the Soviet Union, while George W Bush is losing in the Middle East, because Reagan's overall war strategy was successful, while the Bush strategy is flawed. Instead of finding demons in the US intelligence world to blame for Bush's failure, author Timmerman would do better to study some basic precepts of logic. - Spengler (Nov 26, '07)

Muslim democracy: An oxymoron? Democracy in Muslim Societies by Zoya Hasan (ed) Six case studies ranging from Bangladesh to Indonesia examine the variables and differing paths taken by Muslim politics in the search for democracy. A common theme is that Islam has been manipulated, but the book falls short by ignoring non-Muslim countries to see if religion has similarly been manipulated. - Sreeram Chaulia (Nov 21, '07)

Power, passion and neo-liberalism The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein "Masterful journalist" Klein traces neo-liberalism's rise to dominance through to the "disaster capitalism" practiced in Iraq. It's a towering work, one that brilliantly follows neo-liberalism's march from marginal theology to universal policy. - Walden Bello (Nov 16, '07)

'A necessary evil' Merchant of Death by Douglas Farah and Stephen Braun Though Russian Viktor Bout is wanted in Belgium and has been called the "Bill Gates or Donald Trump of arms trafficking", he is secure in Moscow, overseeing an enormous shadowy airfleet. The authors' investigative book exposes the mysterious world in which he operates, aiding Islamic militants in Afghanistan as as well as ferrying weapons and supplies for the US military. - Bertil Lintner (Nov 9, '07)

Inside story of the Western mind Twentieth-Century Catholic Theologians by Fergus Kerr America's "war on terror" proceeds from a political philosophy that treats radical Islam as if it were a political movement - "Islamo-fascism" - rather than a truly religious response to the West. Few Western leaders comprehend this, and by default, the only effective leader of the West, the man who has drawn the line in the sand, is Pope Benedict XVI. For those who are concerned about the West's future, this book is a godsend. - Spengler (Nov 5, '07)

Decoding the enigmatic Republic of Iran Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies by Barbara Slavin This is a masterful job of putting a human face on the largely demonized people and country of Iran. With clear-eyed insight and interviews that range from the inner sanctums of the White House to the slums of Tehran, the book strips away the stereotypes to reveal a complex Iran that belies the popular US view. (Nov 2, '07)

Deconstructing Cambodia's modernist heritage Building Cambodia by Helen Grant Ross and Darryl Leon Collins The little-known period of Cambodia's post-colonial/pre-Killing Fields Khmer architectural renaissance is lovingly documented. At the urging of quixotic Prince Norodom Sihanouk, Cambodian architects, engineers and town planners between 1953 and 1970 combined Western modernist forms, materials and functions with traditional Cambodian designs for a unique low-rise form that now finds itself threatened by cookie-cutter glass towers. - Andrew Symon (Oct 26, '07)

A GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED Intellectual fallacies of the 'war on terror' The Matador's Cape: America's Reckless Response to Terror by Stephen Holmes Chalmers Johnson finds this book to be a "powerful and philosophically erudite survey of what we think we understand about the 9/11 attacks - and how and why the United States has magnified many times over the initial damage caused by the terrorists". Holmes has cleared away the underbrush and prepared the way for the public to address this more or less taboo subject. (Oct 23, '07)

Embattled frontier Lost Opportunities. 50 Years of Insurgency in the North-East and India's Response by SP Sinha In detailing the myriad conflicts and insurrections that have long plagued India's "Seven Sister" northeast states, author, scholar and soldier S P Sinha lays most of the blame on unsavory outside influences and linkages in Bangladesh, Myanmar and China rather than ethnic conflict or Delhi's own mismanagement of the situation. - Sreeram Chaulia (Oct 12, '07)

Reaping what is sown The Age of Turbulence by Alan Greenspan Greenspan became the public face of, and far and away the most important single personage representing, the triumphal capitalist revolution that would come to rule the planet. Yet at times his book reads more like a sales manager reporting the quarter's results to the home office. And the former Fed chief takes no blame for all the rescues that acted to reward those who engaged in moral hazard. - Julian Delasantellis (Oct 5, '07)

'Television is my lie' Hong Kong on Air by Muhammad Cohen This is a comic romp through the frenetic world of television news at the time of Hong Kong's handover from British to Chinese rule in 1997. For aficionados of the handover story this is a worthy though over-long read. And, of course, peace between the Muhammads and the Cohens can't help but be a good thing. - Kent Ewing (Sep 28, '07)

A comparative failure Infrastructure Growth in India and China: A Comparative Study edited by Dhandapani Alagiri It has always been tempting to make comparisons about Asia's two giants, but because their systems of governance are so different, it is not always helpful to do so. Hence even if this book had done a better job at accomplishing the promise of its title, it probably still would not have ended up being particularly useful. - David Simmons (Sep 21, '07)

That '800-pound gorilla' ... Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States by Trita Parsi Nothing is as it seems in the Middle East, and author Trita Parsi sheds light on the dark, back-door wheeling and dealing among supposed enemies - Israel, Iran and the US - going back decades. The book is a timely and important read for anybody who wants push back the essentialist arguments that suggest an impending clash of ideologies. - Khody Akhavi (Sep 14, '07)