A book on the military aspects of the India-China face-off, filled to the brim with detailed information on strengths and weaknesses of the armed forces of the two countries (and the Pakistan factor). Of course, for the average general reader, much of this information is water off a duck's back, and we probably will have to take the author's judgments on face value. It is not clear whether the author is advocating a more hawkish or a more conciliatory approach; his assessment that India is in no position to fight even a protracted war with one neighbor (forget a two-front war with both neighbors), seems to favor a diplomatic resolution. On the other hand, by focusing on the military aspects, the question of settling a firm border by an exchange of jurisdictions, does not seem to be on the table. Incidentally, the authors feel that a settlement of the Kashmir problem with Pakistan would be the first priority; whereas to this reader, at least, the China-India border dispute seems to be much the easier to resolve, and more urgent the Kashmir issue, on the other hand, may well be one of those unsolvable problems. The book also has a slightly bolted-together feel, with chapters on the Hindu-Muslim problem and Kashmir- a different subject calling for a separate treatment (the second author has fulfilled this by writing an independent book on Muslims in India). The authors have (perhaps wisely!) not included any maps, which may have been helpful. ( )

All in all, I think that this is a well-researched book. The book does go a long way in clearly detailing out India's shortcomings from a military, political and strategic perspective.

If you have been following the relative fortunes of India, China and Pakistan, much of this information will not come as a surprise. However, I am surprised that Pakistan seems to have become very strong.

The book has been divided into neat sections, with each section devoted to a unique topic. This is good.

There is, however, one critique that I have - the author/s have nothing positive to say about India. This is a glaring weakness. It gives me the impression that all the research that they did has one aim, to find deficiencies in India's approach.

I would have preferred a more balanced and nuanced approach. ( )