Tamarind city where modern India began

With mordant wit, this biography of a city spares neither half of its split-personality: from moody, magical Madras to bursting-at-the-seams, tech-savvy Chaennai. And, a minute into the book, the reader knows they are inserparable-and Bishwanath Ghosh refuses to take sides. What emerges is an evocative portrait of this unique city, drawn without reservation-sometimes with humour, sometimes with irony-but always with love.