Books on terrorism and Indian defence forces in the non-fiction category drew maximum people on the second day of the book fair on Sunday. The fair, which was reportedly visited by about one lakh people, witnessed people inquiring more about non-fiction books other than the ones on typical political histories and autobiographies.
Unlike typical political histories and autobiographies that filled up shelves of avid readers, this time around, books on demand were S. Hussain Zaidi’s Headley and I, author Dilip Hiro’s Jihad on Two Fronts, both an account of the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai and of course the unavoidable ISIS by journalist Jessica Stern, an organisation which has become a menace to the world. “Terrorist forces originating from Pakistan and Afghanistan has caused India heavy damage and our country is still not immune to it. I developed the urge to read books on terror after the recent attack on Pathankot airbase,” said hotel management student Rahul Gujral, who generally has a fetish for political history. Some publishing houses were of the view that more people are interested in non-fiction this year than what was experienced by them in the previous fair last year.
While pointing out some of the most sold goods in the non-fiction category, HarperCollins News Corp employee Yogesh Gupta said: “We definitely have more takers of non-fiction books this time, something I feel is unprecedented. And some books on the Indian Army and its operations were wiped off the shelves in no time.”
India’s Security In A Turbulent World by Jasjit Singh and Our Armed Forces by Lt. Col. Gautam Sharma were few of the many books mostly seen at the counters for billing.
