THE SEARCH By John Battelle Nicholas Brealey Publishing PP: 311 Price: Rs 984

I had stopped reading business books a few years ago, as my interests turned to reading about Indian history. This book, however, is a must read for anyone who has a passing interest in the internet and what its impact has been on human behaviour and culture. It documents the history of search on the internet and then, in greater detail, on how Google has transformed the search industry and the internet decisively. Battelle makes the audacious claim that the Google archive of key words that people use to search the web contains the secret to what the human race wants. I was stunned by this insight when I read the chapter The Database of Intentions. After all, when you find out what key words people are searching for, you know what they are thinking, what they want, what their fears and apprehensions are and what their priorities are. And given the increasing dominance of Google in internet search, Battelle's claim is probably true. For me, this was the most valuable insight contained in the book.

The author tells the story of the numerous search engines in the pre-Google era, the conception and birth pangs of Google, and the future of Google and search in a compelling manner. I have never read any other explanation of the model around which the fabled Google PageRank algorithm was built that is so simple to understand, yet so incisive.

The book also has enough stories that are a part of internet folklore to keep the casual reader engaged-how Yahoo was founded, how Brin and Page first met, how the Google technology was first put up for sale by the founders, and when nobody bought it, how the founders decided to make a company out of it-and many other legends. For instance, did you know that the PageRank algorithm was named after Larry Page? And that Page and Brin kept their first investor's cheque uncashed for weeks because the company had not been incorporated and they had not opened a bank account?

Definitely the best book I have read about the internet. It made me wonder-What the hell was I doing while Google was being built?

Sanjeev Bikhchandani is the CEO of Naukri.com

ASIA'S BEST HOTELS & RESORTS Apa Publications GmbH & Co PP: 384 Price: Rs 1,200

Getaway-Guide

A first thought on seeing this nicely-produced volume could be 'yet another'. And as it turns out, you wouldn't be far wrong. The second edition of Asia's Best Hotels and Resorts from Insight Guides and HotelClub.com, however, claims to be the region's first-ever guide book on hotels in 22 Asian countries, based on genuine opinions of customers who voted in on an online poll. The result is 384 smooth pages of information, tidily laid out, with more than a thousand photos. Each hotel has been rated on eight criteria, including location, value for money and cleanliness.

In terms of information, the book passes muster, even if it is a bit confusing in parts. However, I do have a quarrel with large parts of the descriptive text, which seem to have been put together by a team of writers lost among metaphors and similes. "India," says one, "overflows with beauty and toil." I don't think Mahatma Gandhi would have been too happy to have himself described as a 'world-shaker', and would you like to watch the Indian Ocean going 'technicolour ballistic' in Maldives? I thought not. And what do you say about a hotel, in this case, The Oriental, Bangkok, that has 'charisma in spades'? Editing errors are many, detracting from what is otherwise a useful guide that succeeds in showcasing through all these hotels the unique warmth and hospitality that characterise Asia.

-Elizabeth Eapen