New Statesman -

Does my beard bother the Miu Miu bag lady?

Pankaj Mishra — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 12:00:00 GMT

My wife says I lose my sense of humour in airports. If true, this is because I am concentrating too hard on controlling my nerves

The last refuge of Old Europe

Pankaj Mishra — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 12:00:00 GMT

Fleeing modernity, Nietzsche fell for Turin's old-fashioned charm. There lies the city's salvation, writes Pankaj Mishra

A new sort of superpower

Pankaj Mishra — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 12:00:00 GMT

Introduction - India's dream of national strength and wealth is now a reality: its superpower status is indisputable. Yet it is rejecting cultural uniformity, writes Pankaj Mishra. It will be a long time before it is fully modern - and this may be a very good thing

The white man's burden. While colonialism took a terrible toll on the inhabitants of India, they were not its only victims. Pankaj Mishra on the men, women and children whose lives were transformed by serving Britain abroad

Pankaj Mishra — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 12:00:00 GMT

The Ruling Caste: imperial lives in the Victorian Raj David Gilmour John Murray, 383pp, �25 ISBN 0719555345 Children of the Raj Vyvyen Brendon Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 362pp, �20

Valley of the shadows. First the victims of British imperialism, then of India's "secular" ruling elite, Kashmir's Muslims have long endured oppression. Today, as conflict in their land continues to claim thousands, the Kashmiris themselves remain largely invisible

Pankaj Mishra — Mon, 30 Aug 2004 12:00:00 GMT

Hindu Rulers, Muslim Subjects: Islam, rights and the history of Kashmir Mridu Rai Hurst & Company, 335pp, �16.50 (pbk) ISBN 1850657017 Languages of Belonging: Islam, regional identity and the making of Kashmir Chitralekha Zutshi Hurst & Company, 359pp, �16.50 (pbk)

Twelve Steps to Enlightenment. Westerners are increasingly turning to Buddhism as an antidote to the stresses of modern life. But there is more to it than meditation. For many of us, the prospect of renouncing greed, hatred and delusion is more terrifying than liberating

Pankaj Mishra — Mon, 12 Apr 2004 12:00:00 GMT

Going Buddhist: panic and emptiness, the Buddha and me Peter J Conradi Short Books, 183pp, �9.99 ISBN 1904095631

A sepulchral chill in the soul. Although published in 1869, Sentimental Education now reads as the first major novel of the 20th century. Flaubert managed to draw a portrait of a secular metropolitan world that was new in his time, but has become the substance of our life

Pankaj Mishra — Mon, 16 Feb 2004 12:00:00 GMT

Sentimental Education Gustave Flaubert; translated by Robert Baldick Penguin Classics, 479pp, �8.99

India's time of reckoning

Pankaj Mishra — Mon, 29 Sep 2003 12:00:00 GMT

The world's second-largest population of Muslims has until now resisted the pied pipers of jihad. But, provoked by Hindu nationalists, it too turns to violence

The first liberal imperialist

Pankaj Mishra — Mon, 24 Mar 2003 12:00:00 GMT

The great Mughal emperor Akbar believed in religious tolerance and reason. But his quest to achieve peace provides a cautionary example to today's western leaders

An excess of goodwill. Pankaj Mishra is disappointed by a respected writer's journey into bland provincialism

Pankaj Mishra — Mon, 25 Nov 2002 12:00:00 GMT

India in Slow Motion Mark Tully Viking, 302pp, �17.99 ISBN 0670885584