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Spy Princess
This is the riveting story of Noor Inayat Khan, a descendant of an Indian prince, Tipu Sultan (the Tiger of Mysore), who became a British secret agent for SOE during World War II. Shrabani Basu tells the moving story of Noor's life, from her birth in Moscow – where her father was a Sufi preacher – to her capture by the Germans. Noor was one of only three women SOE agents awarded the George Cross and, under torture, revealed nothing, not even her real name. Kept in solitary confinement, her hands and feet chained together, Noor was starved and beaten, but the Germans could not break her spirit. Ten months after she was captured, she was taken to Dachau concentration camp and, on 13 September 1944, she was shot. Her last word was 'Liberté.'
Victoria and Abdul (film tie-in)
The tall, handsome Abdul Karim was just twenty-four years old when he arrived in England from Agra to wait at tables during Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. An assistant clerk at Agra Central Jail, he suddenly found himself a personal attendant to the Empress of India herself. Within a year, he was established as a powerful figure at court, becoming the queen's teacher, or Munshi, and instructing her in Urdu and Indian affairs. Devastated by the death of John Brown, her Scottish ghillie, the queen had at last found his replacement. But her intense and controversial relationship with the Munshi led to a near-revolt in the royal household. Victoria & Abdul examines how a young Indian Muslim came to play a central role at the heart of the empire, and his influence over the queen at a time when independence movements in the sub-continent were growing in force. Yet, at its heart, it is a tender love story between an ordinary Indian and his elderly queen, a relationship that survived the best attempts to destroy it.
Curry
Britain has become a nation of curryholics - there are more than 8000 curry restaurants in Britain, visited by two million people each week. Each year, £2 billion is spent in Indian restaurants, while Marks and Spencer's sells 18 tonnes of Chicken Tikka Masala weekly. But how did Britain come to take curry so much to its heart? Where did the word 'curry' originate? When did the first curry restaurants come to Britain? And when were the first recipes produced for those who wanted to concoct the flavoursome dishes in their home? The first recipe for curry powder recorded by the English was from Mrs Turnbull, who wrote down her recipes in manuscript in the mid-18th century at her home in Hyde Park following her return from India. Today, curry is one of the most widely available meals in Britain, available in pubs nationwide, in supermarkets and in a plethora of restaurants to suit all purses and palates. Here, bestselling author Shrabni Basu traces the story of curry in Britain.
For King and Another Country
Over a million Indian soldiers fought in the First World War, the largest force from the colonies and dominions. Their contribution, however, has been largely forgotten. Many soldiers were illiterate and travelled from remote villages in India to fight in the muddy trenches in France and Flanders. Many went on to win the highest bravery awards. For King and another Country tells, for the first time, the personal stories of some of these Indians who went to the Western Front: from a grand turbanned Maharaja rearing to fight for Empire to a lowly sweeper who dies in a hospital in England, from a Pathan who wins the Victoria Cross to a young pilot barely out of school. Shrabani Basu delves into archives in Britain and narratives buried in villages in India and Pakistan to recreate the War through the eyes of the Indians who fought it. There are heroic tales of bravery as well as those of despair and desperation; there are accounts of the relationships that were forged between the Indians with their British officers and how curries reached the frontline. Above all, it is the great story of how the War changed India and led, ultimately, to the call for independence.
Before We Visit the Goddess
"A new novel from the author of Oleander Girl, a novel in stories, built around crucial moments in the lives of 3 generations of women in an Indian/Indian-American Family"--
Re-Imagine
Two hundred years of shared history had a period of recess, neither country investing actively in building a contemporary relationship. The result: India does not know contemporary Britain and Britain has little idea of how the new India is emerging. The past offers a strong platform for rebuilding a new relationship, but it has to be based on an equal footing, recognizing the cultural nuances and current ambitions of both nations. Shrabani Basu, who as editor provides the overview that strings together all the essays, is also on the committee of Project 400 that commemorates the arrival of the first Indian in England and the departure from India in 1614 of the first ambassador to the Mughal Court, Sir Thomas Roe. She traces the people to people links over four hundred years that create an overlapping history of the two nations and raised the question how a relationship forged on a common love for cricket, curry, parliamentary democracy and the English language can be taken forward gainfully in the twenty-first century, at a time when both countries face uncomfortable problems as they look into the future.
Caravan of Souls: An Introduction to the Sufi Path of Hazrat Inayat Khan
Caravan of Souls is a guidebook to the Sufi path of Hazrat Inayat Khan, a spiritual philosophy of love, harmony, and beauty. It is a foundational text for all students of the path, as well as anyone interested in learning about the history of the Inayatiyya. Within these pages the reader will find the essential teachings and methods of the order and movement he founded, as well as an inspiring array of sayings, poems, songs, prayers, stories, and biographical portraits.
Yellow Star, Red Star
Agnes Kaposi was born in Hungary the year before Hitler came to power and started school at the outbreak of World War II. The Holocaust killed many of her family, together with half a million Hungarian Jews, but a series of miracles and coincidences allowed her to survive. She worked as a child labourer in the agricultural and armament camps of Austria and was liberated by a rampaging Soviet army. She struggled through post-war hardship to re-enter Hungarian society, only to be caught up for a decade in the vice of Stalinism. In 1956 a bloody revolution offered the opportunity to escape to Britain, a country of freedom and tolerance, where she started a family and built a career as a ground-breaking electrical engineering teacher and consultant. Dr Kaposi writes with compassion and optimism, without self-pity. The tone is light, and there is plenty of irony, even humour. The narrative is underscored by the historian László Csősz and illustrated by several maps and more than a hundred archival images and family photographs.
Pangs of Partition
A transnational collection of 'Pandemic Poetry' and paintings which, among other themes, compares India with Scotland. Vibha's oil paintings complement Bashabi's evocative poetry.
Rumours of Spring
'A terrifying yet tender account of a girlhood spent under near-constant siege.' Madhuri Vijay, author of The Far Field 'Extraordinary - this memoir of growing up in Kashmir in the 1990s is illuminating, heartbreaking, and beautifully told.' Kamila Shamsie, author of Home Fire 'This is an unforgettable work that refuses silence. It is an urgent, brave call for justice.' Maaza Mengiste, author of The Shadow King 'Page after page, Farah Bashir juxtaposes moments of heart-stopping terror and beauty in a stunning memoir of life and love under a bloody military occupation.' Mirza Waheed, author of Tell Her Everything 'I couldn't put it down, and even after it had ended, the people and their stori...
