# Six new books tackle caste, horror, Afghanistan, Gaza, policing, philosophy 2026-08-16T11:31:33+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet Six new books released this week cover a range of themes, from caste and state power to folk horror and the lives of Afghan women under Taliban rule, according to Frontline. The debut fiction titles include Rajesh R. Varma's "The Red Badge" on Kerala's caste system, Satyajit Sarna's "Redtooth" about trekkers trapped in a Sikkim mountain hut, and Nadia Hashimi's "City of Widows" about Afghan women refusing to sell their souls to the Taliban. Survivors of the Darkness by Wesam Afifa narrates 20 months of cruelty faced by a Gaza-born journalist held in Israel from March 2024. Non-fiction arrivals are Yashovardhan Azad's "Policing the Republic", which draws on four decades of experience to expose the nexus of politics and crime, and Sundar Sarukkai's "Homo Philosophicus", an exploration of philosophy as a human instinct spanning Nyaya logic and Buddhist thought. Upcoming titles from Colson Whitehead, Sigrid Nunez, and Alejandra Kamiya are also noted. ## Coverage - frontline.thehindu.com This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Harper Perennial India, J Devika, Simon and Schuster India Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/six-new-books-tackle-caste-horror-afghanistan-gaza-policing-philosophy/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/six-new-books-tackle-caste-horror-afghanistan-gaza-policing-philosophy/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/