Prem Rao : Stories from a Story Teller

The enigmatic and dynamic Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was one of the India's greatest leaders. He founded his Indian National Army during the Second World War and allied himself with the Japanese to fight for India's independence from the British. But what became of Bose at the end of the War?

Kingshuk Nag's book, "Netaji: Living Dangerously" published in 2016, describes his story. A "must read" for all who are interested in Indian history and politics.

Does your memory play tricks on you? Do you remember in graphic detail something that happened decades ago, but forget something that happened just a few minutes ago? If you do, you are like me! Indeed like most of us- who wrestle with the challenges of short- term and long-term memory, especially as we get older.

Andrew Lownie's 2019 book is an eye opener on the lives of two people who were very much in the public eye for most of the 20th century in Britain: Lord Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, and his wife, Edwina, Countess Mountbatten of Burma. Lownie writes about aspects of their lives which were not commonly known.

We follow Mountbatten's career in the Royal Navy from 1916 to 1947, then his tenure as the last British Viceroy of India (1947) and how he resumed his naval career till he became the First Sea Lord in 1955. Edwina, in her own right, was one of the richest women in the world. Ever since they got married in 1922, the Mountbattens were seen as a glamourous couple, members of high society and close to British Royalty. They lived at a time when the British Empire was at it peak and lived long enough to see the Empire collapse after the Second World War. As the title suggests, this book covers their marriage and the many love affairs they had in the course of a long life together.

A fast paced interesting book in which the two authors, who know the Mossad and the world of espionage so well, share their stories of Israel's Secret Service. They cover some of Mossad's great successes over the decades, some carried out against overwhelming odds. Many of the incidents described in this book are being revealed for the first time to the wider world.

Interestingly, the authors also touch upon a few failed missions. They point out that missions get botched as they are conducted by people- and people do make mistakes, however well trained and committed they might be.

All in all, a book that will be much enjoyed by readers who like spy fiction and espionage. It goes to show all that a nation can- and should - do to protect its sovereign interests.