On Tuesday, news came that Amazon India is shutting down the publishing company Westland Books which it had acquired in 2017. One of India’s largest Publication houses well sought after among established as well as aspiring authors is about to shut down its business. Starting off as East-West Books in 1962, it was bought in 2016 by Amazon from Trent Ltd, a Tata group subsidiary. The news, since it came has saddened many authors and book lovers who used to look after books released by the Publishing house.
Over the years, the name stood out for publishing a rare, brave and refreshing breed of releases for which it had caught a nerve among readers. In a market often dominated by writers from the left, Westland stood out as a voice for people with different views and expressions. The Publishing house has contributed to the nation’s intellectual churn in more ways than one. As the literati bids adieu to the publishing excellence, Here is a list of some path-breaking works published by Westland…
1. Amish Tripathi
Bestselling author Amish Tripathi is one of India’s best-selling writers who started the mythological fiction series The Shiva Trilogy. The first book of the trilogy, ‘the Immortals of Meluha’ was the first book Amish wrote which was published by Westland. Over the years, after The Shiva Trilogy, Amish has written three out of five books in his next Ramachandra series, and a non-fiction collection of his speeches under the title ‘Immortal India‘ with Westland. Confirming that Amazon has informed him about the decision to shut down Westland, he said he was yet to work out the details of how the decision would affect the publication of his previous and forthcoming titles.
2. Rujuta Diwekar
It was under the title of Westland that celebrity fitness expert and dietician Rujuta Diwekar wrote five of her best selling books Women and the Weight Loss Tamasha, Don’t Lose Out, Work out, Pregnancy Notes: Before, During and After, Eating in the Age of Dieting and Notes for Healthy Kids. The wellness author who often bats for willfully eating contextual diets has churned out many books rooted in Indian wisdom around Fitness and Wellness.
3. Harsh Gupta Madhusudan and Rajeev Mantri
First-time authors Rajeev Mantri and Harsh Madhusudan Gupta set out to write their book ‘A New Idea of India‘ arguing many a point in the recent political debates, which was released by Westland in October 2020. The book cultivates an idea of India being a ‘Civilizational state’ with strong advocacy for Individual rights. The idea behind the book was born through a discussion between political intellectuals debating the singularity of ‘The Idea of Idea’ touted by many thinkers on the Nehruvian conservative spectrum. Since then, the book has topped many charts in the non-fiction lists and was arguably one of the best books released that year.
4. Ram Madhav
RSS ideologue released his new book The Hindutva Paradigm last year under the banner of Westland. The book is an ode to the ideals of Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay was one of the founding members of BJP’s predecessor political unit – Janata Party. It makes a case for Upadhyay’s philosophy of Integral Humanism being a thought process beyond of western-normative frameworks of Capitalism and Communism. For the ones debating the vitality of Hinduism over Hindutva, this comes as a must-read!
5. Nalin Mehta
Nalin Mehta’s The New BJP was one of the recently released books under the banner of Westland. The political analyst in his new book records the journey of the party in the Modi era. Its research-heavy thesis and data-driven analytics have shown how the Saffron party has found its new core voting base among women and the so-called lower castes. “Shocked to hear and this is a terrible blow to publishing in India. Westland and Karthika (The Editor) have published some amazing books and done stellar work. This decision is unfathomable and my heart goes out to Karthika and her wonderful team,” said Nalin Mehta on the development.
We couldn’t stop at five! – 6. Smriti Irani
When The news of the Cabinet Minister for Women and Child Welfare Smriti Irani turning Author with her new book came, her fans were elated to get a copy as soon as possible. Lal Salaam written by Smriti is a fictional account based on a real-life story of a CRPF Jawaan who fought a Naxalite attack in Central India. Published by Westland, the literary work by the politician-turned-author was applauded by many established writers, thinkers and avid readers.
