Minhaz Merchant

LANKA WILL BURN. DARKNESS WILL PERISH. BUT CAN LIGHT ENDURE? INDIA, 3400 BCE. Greed. Rage. Grief. Love. Smouldering tinder, waiting to trigger a war. But this war is different. This one is for Dharma. This war is for the greatest Goddess of them all. Sita has been kidnapped. Defiantly, she dares Raavan to kill her - she'd rather die than allow Ram to surrender. Ram is beside himself with grief and rage. He prepares for war. Fury is his fuel. Calm focus, his guide. Raavan thought he was invincible. He thought he'd negotiate and force a surrender. Little did he know ... The first three books of the second-fastest-selling book series in Indian publishing history - the Ram Chandra Series - explore the individual journeys of Ram, Sita and Raavan. In this, the epic fourth book of the series, their narrative strands crash into each other, and explode in a slaughterous war. Will Ram defeat the ruthless and fiendish Raavan, constrained as he is by the laws of Dharma? Will Lanka burn to a cinder or fight back like a cornered tiger? Will the terrible costs of war be worth the victory? Most importantly, will the Vishnu rise? And will the real enemies of the land fear the Vishnu? For fear is the mother of love.

On 1 October 1949, the People’s Republic of China came into being and changed forever the course of Asian history. Power moved from the hands of the nationalist Kuomintang government to the Communist Party of China headed by Mao Tse Tung. All of a sudden, it was not only an assertive China that India had to deal with but also an increasingly complex situation in Tibet which was reeling under pressure from China. Clearly, newly independent India, with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru at its helm, was navigating very choppy waters. Its relations with China progressively deteriorated, eventually leading to the Indo-China war in 1962. Today, more than six decades after the war, we are still plagued by border disputes with China that seem to routinely grab the headlines. It leads one to question what exactly went on during those initial years of the emergence of a new China. And, more importantly, why have we repeatedly failed to arrive at a solution? Based on years of meticulous archival research, this book in fascinating detail, analyses the events from 1949 to the Indo-China war in 1962 and its aftermath to explore the answers to these burning questions.

‘Heavily sourced, crisply written and deeply alarming.’ The Times ‘This is a remarkable book with a chilling message.’ Guardian The Chinese Communist Party is determined to reshape the world in its image. Its decades-long infiltration of the West threatens democracy, human rights, privacy, security and free speech. Throughout North America and Europe, political and business elites, Wall Street, Hollywood, think tanks, universities and the Chinese diaspora are being manipulated with money, pressure and privilege. Hidden Hand reveals the myriad ways the CCP is fulfilling its dream of undermining liberal values and controlling the world.

What happened when India and China last went to battle with each other? China won? Wrong, India won. The sole IndiaChina conflict that remains etched in our collective memory is the 1962 war, which India tragically lost. But five years later, in 1967, India and China faced off once again in the heights of Cho La and Nathu La at the Sikkim border. This time, overcoming the odds, India triumphed.The fallout of these forgotten battles was immense. China shied away from actively allying with Pakistan and the US during the 1971 IndiaPakistan war. And despite several stand-offs in the half century since then, Beijing has never again launched a military offensive against India. This incredible book tells us why these battles ushered in an era of peace. Full of thrilling international intrigue and nail-biting battle scenes, this book is based on extensive research and interviews with army officers and soldiers who participated in these historic battles. It aims to rectify a blind spot in history and shine the spotlight on a story of incredible bravery that India should be proud of.