In 2013, in a poll on ‘Britain’s Greatest Battle’, the twin victories at Imphal–Kohima during the Second World War were voted as the winner of the poll. If one recalls popular representations of World War II in this part of the world, what comes to mind immediately is the film The Bridge on the River Kwai, starring Alec Guinness. That the Japanese had reached the eastern borders of British India and posed a great threat to the war effort is something that people may take time to recollect.

The book traces the history and events of the nineteenth century in a sparsely populated desert area of Asia, Balochistan, an area (inhabited by the tribal Baloch people) and brings out the strategic importance attached to the Bolan Pass by the colonial British.

The book, A Rock between Hard Places, is the result of research carried out by K.B. Harpviken and S. Tadjbakhsh, independently and jointly, with encouragement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway. In this book, the authors have examined the events unfolding in Afghanistan from a regional perspective up to 2015, set against the backdrop of the scheduled withdrawal of the United States (US)-led military alliance.

In this book, the author—a distinguished officer of the Indian Army who retired as an Army Commander in 1983—has written about his experiences and important events in his 37 years of military life. He was commissioned in 1948 in the first batch of gentlemen cadets from the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun, in post-independence India. He witnessed the Partition of the country and the reorganisation of the Indian Armed Forces, which gave him an insight into the many facets of national security at the grassroots level.

The 1965 war was an unexpected one, forced on India by Pakistan. Yet, India rose as one to face the threat to her safety and integrity, and defeated the designs of Pakistan to wrest Kashmir. Fought mainly on our western border, the geopolitical ramifications of the war attracted international attention and reactions of the major world powers, mainly for ending the war. While the actual fighting stopped on 23 September1965 (there were a few actions after it also), the final curtain was drawn in January 1966 at Tashkent.

The book provides a brief history of Afghanistan from ancient times to year 2014, and brings out the strategic interest of world powers in the country. It highlights that Afghanistan has seen considerable turmoil, upheavals and external forces battling for strategic control since the 1970s. In 2001, this culminated into an ‘international war against terror’ post the 9/11 attacks in the US by Al Qaeda, the leaders of which were then sheltered by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

The book contains 10 articles from presentations made by Western scholars (including officers from the defence forces) at the Royal Danish Defence College, in 2011, and has been edited by N.B. Paulsen, K.H. Galster and S. Nørby. Their historical research brings out that coalition warfare is not a new phenomenon, and has been practised by nations for different reasons. While, in most cases, countries came together when they faced a common threat and did not have the strength (manpower, finances or military power) to counter it, often it was to regain their pride and prestige in the world.

The book covers reflections of a soldier-turned-politician on the security challenges faced by India since her independence. The author has covered major events like the 1947–48 Kashmir War, the 1962 India–China War and the 1965 Indo-Pak War (the two operations in which he participated), besides the 1971 War for Liberation of Bangladesh and other events till the 1990s, based on research material.

The book is a collection of 18 research essays authored by 27 international personalities from various countries (including four from India). It is devoted to understanding ‘Causes of Terrorism and How to Counter It’. These essays have been edited by two scientists of the Defence and Research Laboratories, India, who have been working on same subject.

The Rational Believer is a result of three years of research and field trips in Pakistan by the author and examines the post-9/11 image of madrasas in Pakistan. The findings are correlated with socio-economic theories and explain the logic of the teachings of Quran, where appropriate. Analyses of what makes a believer endure hardships, why jihadis attack fellow Muslims and what makes them martyrs (shuhada) are also carried out.