Vinay Lal is Professor of History and Asian American Studies at UCLA. His eighteen authored and edited books include: The History of History: Politics and Scholarship in Modern India (2003), Of Cricket, Guinness and Gandhi: Essays on Indian History and Culture (2005), and, most recently, The Fury of Covid-19: The Politics, Histories, and Unrequited Love of the Coronavirus (2020). Professor Lal’s abiding commitment to the idea and practice of nonviolence has been recognized by the California Legislative Assembly and the U.S. House of Representatives.