Books and the Pursuit of Knowledge

Lt Gen Raj Shukla (Retd)

The profession of arms is as broad and deep as any other, medicine, law, finance or business. While being premised fundamentally on strong levels of fitness, a love for the outdoors and a sense of adventure (the salience therefore of physicality and brawn in the military dynamic); in the long run, what separates the men from the boys is knowledge and wisdom, as against mere domain competence.

The primary source of such wisdom and knowledge are books, supplemented of course by a variety of other tools: thoughtful articles, quality professional journals, digital content, informed debates and conversations and most importantly the habit of ‘deep reflection.’ The fount of knowledge so developed, helps to nourish world views and enables officers take a wide angled view of national security, so critical to successful soldiering in the modern world.

The aspirational ideal should be to fuse thought and action—think like men of action and act like men of thought. Here are a few recommended books that readers may find useful.

Nuclear Weapons and Indian Security: The Realist Foundations of Strategy by Bharat Karnad. Though titled as such, the book is far more than a treatise on nuclear weapons. It is a comprehensive account of the evolution of India’s strategic thought from the days of the Arthashastra, the Vedas and the Yudhkandam to our post-Independence national security structures and challenges. It is an epitome of brilliant insights and thoughtful analysis. The author Bharat Karnad is often described in Indian strategic circles as a ‘hawk’; yet, ironically, much of his realism, at some point becomes our strategic policy. The book is essential reading to understand as to why the instrument of force i