Sanjeev Sanyal is a bestselling writer, environmentalist and internationally recognized economist. Currently, he is the Principal Economic Adviser to Government of India. Prior to joining the government, he spent two decades in international financial markets and was Global Strategist and Managing Director of one of the world's largest banks. He was named "Young Global Leader 2010" by the World Economic Forum. His books "The Indian Renaissance: India's Rise After a Thousand Years of Decline", "Land of the Seven Rivers: A Brief History of India's Geography" and "The Incredible History of India's Geography", "Life Over Two Beers" and "The Ocean of Churn" were published by Penguin. His columns and articles have appeared in many of the world's leading publications. In 2014, he was given the inaugural International Indian Achievers' Award for his contributions to Literature.

He has also written extensively on environmental and urban issues. In 2007, he was awarded the Eisenhower Fellowship for his work on the economics of cities and, in 2014, the Singapore government honored him at the World Cities Summit. He has also been a Senior Fellow of the World Wide Fund for Nature (formerly World Wildlife Fund), an Adjunct Fellow of the Institute of Policy Studies, SIngapore, and a Visiting Scholar at Oxford University.

Sanjeev Sanyal was born in Kolkata but now lives between Singapore and Delhi. He attended St Xavier's School and St James' School in Kolkata. He then studied economics at Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi before attending Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. It was at Oxford that Sanjeev developed a love for old maps and cartography, an interest that is often reflected in his writings.

Podcast of book launch at London School of Economics:

http://www.lse.ac.uk/newsAndMedia/videoAndAudio/channels/publicLecturesAndEvents/player.aspx?id=1709

Video of Singapore book launch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMxaZSJZjnk