Date:14/07/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/br/2009/07/14/stories/2009071451331400.htm

From the blurb

The Icon — Marshal of the IAF Arjan Singh: Air Cmdre Jasjit Singh; KW Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 4676/21, First Floor, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi-110002. Rs. 880.

Published in association with the Centre for Air Power Studies, this authorised biography tells the story of not just the man who rose to the highest military rank attainable but of the Indian Air Force itself through the turbulent decades. Arjan Singh, who joined the force in his teens, had a meteoric career. From the age of 22 till he retired from active service 30 years later, he was mostly in command, and for 17 years he held direct command of operational units and formations right to the top as the Air Chief. In 2002 he became the sole Marshal of the IAF. Notably, how under him the IAF proved its dominance during the 1965 war with Pakistan is detailed graphically and the account bears the stamp of authenticity. The biography is a must read for the military professionals as well as for others who are interested in knowing about India’s military history.

The Future of Cricket — The Rise of Twenty20: John Buchanan; Orient Paperbacks, 5A/8, Ansari Road, New Delhi-110002. Rs. 295.

John Buchanan is accused of many things by his critics — and the former coach of the Australian cricket team has several — but few have made the case that he is a dull person. Abstruse, difficult to follow, but definitely not dull. You would figure that his exploration of the game’s most talked-about format in recent times — held together by the narrative glue of an insider’s account of the Kolkata Knight Riders, easily the most fascinating team in the Indian Premier League — would keep a reader engaged from cover to cover. But, rather like the format it deals with, the book stops short of satiation. This is not to say it is without virtue. The chapters on Shane Warne, Sourav Ganguly, and Shoaib Akhtar, with whom the author has had prickly relationships, depart from popular perception. Just as intriguing are Buchanan’s left-field ideas on evolving the game. “My hope is that those who control the IPL, the administrators who control world cricket, and those others who will have direct influence on the future of cricket have a very clear vision of where the game can and should go,” writes Buchanan, and while his own vision is open to debate, he has done much in articulating it.