History, politics, or economics, India or the world, current affairs, or headlines from the past, Prafull Goradia never ceases to amaze us with his treasure trove of knowledge. This book is an exhaustive collection of his essays, wherein he analyses everything from the reasons behind the pathetic plight of Air India to the power games between Russia and China, to the 1936 Berlin Olympics and the fascinating exploits of three generals of World War II—Germany’s Erwin Rommel, General Patton of USA and England’s Field Marshall Montgomery.

Goradia offers a unique perspective on the stock market crash of 2008 and The Great Depression of 1929, when a quarter of the male population lost their jobs. We have the author’s musings on the Uniform Civil Code, Fascism, the Congress’ troubles, Kashmir, the Taliban, and Sri Lanka’s Food Emergency. The author also reveals why Hitler asked India’s hockey legend, Dhyan Chand, to join the German army, the repercussions of Javed Akhtar’s controversial remarks on the RSS, and how fate in the form of Devika Rani intervened in the life of Dilip Kumar, who might have otherwise continued in his family trade of fruit selling.

Born in Bombay in 1937, Prafull Goradia is a doyen of the tea industry, who quit a comfortable existence to plunge into the uncertain world of politics, his real passion. Elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1998 from the Bharatiya Janata Party, his interventions in many important matters, his parliamentary speeches on contemporary issues and participation in debates and contributions to policy-making were significant.