a small archive of things worth knowing.
history
it is also known as ‘third battle of ypres’. it was fought on the ‘western front’ for control of the ridges south and east of the city of ypres in west flanders, belgium. it was an allied offensive in 1917 that aimed to break german defenses in belgium. the battle became a symbol of the pointlessness and cruelty of war, the constant rain turned the shell cratered battlefield into deep mud, men drowned or became trapped in shell holes. around 500,000 men became casualities on both sides, for very little ground gained.
short documentary on this war by ‘the great war’, also worth watching this movie 1917
geopolitics
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books on kashmir
- our moon has blood clots by rahul pandita: a memoir detailing the violent displacement and ethnic cleansing of the kashmiri pandit community from kashmir valley in 1990.
- curfewed night by basharat peer: a memoir by kashmiri journalist that chronicles the human cost of the conflict in kashmir.
- understanding kashmir and kashmiris by christopher snedden (oxford university press): an authoritative non-fiction book written by australian politico-strategic analyst christopher snedden. beware that some of his other books are not available in india.2
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books on israel-palestine conflict
- side by side: parallel histories of israel-palestine: a dual-narrative format book where israeli and palestine historical perspective are placed side-by-side.
- the hundred years’ war on palestine: decribes the century long palestinian struggle against zionism settler colonialism and israeli state power, from early 20th century to the present. it focuses on displacement, resistance, occupation and the international forces shaping the conflict.
books recommendation lists
more book list? why not!
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perspolis by marjane satrapi: an autobiographical graphic memoir that chronicles authors childhood in iran during and after the islamic revolution, quite similat to art spiegelman’s maus
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fahrenheit 451 by ray bradbury: one of my favorite dystopian novel, set in future where books are legally banned and burned.
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common sense and nuclear warfare by bertand russell: argues that the only definitive way to eliminate the threat of nuclear destruction is to abolish the institution of the war itself.
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1948: the first arab-israeli war by benny morris: one of his most acclaimed works, drawn extensively from then newly declassified israeli military and western diplomatic archives. despite his later shift in perspective following the second intifada, 1948 remains one of the more authoritative and meticulously researched accounts of the war.morris is one of the four original “new historians”, ilan pappé and avi shalim are worth reading as well.
- the conference of the birds: one of my favorites, it is a monumental 12th century persian epic poem written by the sufi poet farid ud-din attar of nishapur, and one of the foundational allegorical works of sufi literature. it tells of the bird’s arduous journey through seven valleys in search of the mythical ‘simorgh’, ultimately depicting the soul’s journey toward spiritual realization, divine unity, and the annihilation of the self.
articles
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the feuilleton era we live in: explores the hermann hesse’s idea od the “feuilleton age”, which decribes an era of intellectual levity, cultural fragmentation, and information overload, where deep historical knowledge is degraded into trivial infotainment and superficial bite-sized opinions. worth reading his book, the glass bead game which he wrote between 1931 and 1943 during his exile in switzerland, it was banned from publication in nazi germany due to his anti-facist stance.
