The sense and sensibility of Persuasion, Piketty’s history of equality, the lockdown and more

This article forms a part of The Hindu on Books newsletter which brings you book reviews, reading recommendations, interviews with authors and more. In reviews, we read Thomas Piketty’s book on the history of equality, a volume on India’s stringent lockdown announced in 2020 for COVID-19, and a new tome on Narendra Modi and his political mind. Apart from the moral repugnance of slaves paying slave holders compensation, this effectively destroyed Haiti’s chance of becoming economically independent, and the country suffers the consequences to this day.” If the lockdown had not been suddenly announced on March 24, 2020 as COVID-19 took hold, would it have spared thousands of migrants from the agony of having to trek back to their villages? She connects these with the people who are often at the receiving end of such decisions; their stories reminding us how decisions impact people who have no means to fend for themselves.” Ajay Singh’s The Architect of the New BJP: How Narendra Modi Transformed the Party outlines how the Prime Minister oversaw both the strategic and tactical aspects of the BJP’s growth. Third, once Modi realised people were responding to him, he used his ability to move voters like none other, distilling ideas he had picked up on various assignments for the RSS.” Spotlight In a series on children’s books illustrators from across the country, we profile two illustrators based in Bengaluru, Priya Kuriyan and Rajiv Eipe.