Office Politics --- Guy Browning 5/5

This is one book which everyone who has a salaried job should read. And it is the bible if you happen to work in an MNC ( mind numbing calamity). It is what P. G. Woodhouse would have described a 21st century workplace. The tone of the book is humorous and light. The best part is that inspite being sarcastic, the author manages to never leave any bad light at the end of each chapter. The book is divided into chapters which are on topics ranging from HR pot-plants in offices to toilets that are there in modern day corporations. It would be a tough ask to come across anything, which the book does not dedicate a chapter to, in your office. Written with a typical English humor, the book is definitely among one of the best books I have read in recent times. It is ironical that not many people have read it or have heard about the author.

The centurion principles --- Col. (retd) Jeff O leary 3/5

This is a leadership book. It is just like one of those books. It lists down the different traits that would lead on to make a good leader. The leader which is idolized in this book is referred to as the Centurion, the ultimate honour for any soldier as far as his leadership qualities are concerned. Even though it is one of the run-off-the mill books on leadership, the approach is quite fresh and interesting. The author who happens to be a retired colonel of US Airforce, is able to bring a very simple and effective approach to developing a good leader within. The traits identified have been demonstrated by examples ranging from Hannibal and Alexander to Lee and Patton and even Lincoln. The examples cited in some fashion tend to depict the timeless respect, honour and dignity that good leaders are able to command.
It is definitely not a must read but it does have an interesting tone to the already bland topic of Leadership Development.

Good Muslim, Bad Muslim ---- Mahmood Mamdani 4.25/5

This book tries to establish the evolutionary relationship between three distinct entities, namely: USA, Islam and the Global war against terror, as can be seen from the cover of the page. It is an objective dialogue by the author to present the chain of events that begun much earlier than 9/11 and have most recently got exacerbated in the form of subjugation of Iraq. The author is a Ugandan Muslim and has tried his level best to approach this topic without any bias. It must have really been tough to write this book as the topic is seemingly easy to reach hasty conclusions, as can be seen in the world around us now a days.

The book begins with the topic of “Fundamentalism” and origin of the word. It is interesting to know that the root of the word in its current meaning can be traced back to the Presbyterian movement of Princeton of early 20^th century. The perspective offered by the author is: “ …a struggle inside religion, not between religions, as critique of liberal forms of religion…” This represents the original right wing approach that the word emphasized upon. It later explains the meaning of the word “Jihad”, a word which arguably can be most misinterpreted world in theological history till now.

The book is divided into mainly 3 parts: Cold war until the Vietnam debacle, American foreign policy after Vietnam and Outright aggression by America after 9/11. The most prominent aspect is the rising ideology of Proxy wars which took the forefront during Reagan Administration. It was an eye opener to see rise of Wahhabism and militant ideology of Islam, with the spread of proxy wars. The role played by CIA in supporting HAMAS and Hizbollah as well as the “bleeding to death” strategy during the Iran-Iraq war is also worth noting.

The book at times does drag down as the author meticulously tries to cite the references and instances to point towards the deviant role played by America. What the book lags in pace is made up by extensive availability of gravity in the content and the apparent “forged” reality that most of us believe. This book is definitely a “must read” for anyone who wants to know the dubious role of CIA in doing more harm to USA than the so called “Islamic Terrorists”.