The frontier post is carrying the review of this book also, I think (I could not be sure since the article never mentions the title of the book but only the author). http://www.frontierpost.com.pk/articles.asp?id=6&date1=10/7/2002
The frontierpost article gives more tidbits and details than the editorial reviews below. On the eve of elections the reviews kind of provide a dated background. How much have things changed?
From Publishers Weekly
Yale, which presciently gave us Taliban, by Ahmed Rashid, now brings out a study of another crucial country in Central and South Asia. Former BBC correspondent Jones looks at the battle with India over Kashmir (“the single most significant reason for Pakistan’s chronic instability”) and argues that most Pakistanis want to live in a free and tolerant state, not a theocracy. He considers the future of General Pervez Musharraf’s attempt to undo the “Islamization” initiated by his predecessor, General Mohammed Zia ul Haq. Illus.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Pakistan emerges here as a nation divided religiously, ethnically, politically, and geopolitically. This thematic study of its 55-year history moves from the roots struck by founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah and the Muslim League at the time of independence in 1947 to its current leader, Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Along the way, Jones treats the bomb and India, the Kashmir dispute, the nation’s ethnic and political divisions, its three wars with India, and its changing role from Taliban supporter to antagonist. Jones lived in Pakistan from 1998 to 2001 as a BBC correspondent and draws from his experiences to craft a well-written, insightful, and critical journalistic history. He concludes that even barring Musharraf’s assassination, little realistic hope can be awarded Pakistan’s future, given the depth of the society’s social, religious, and political divisions. Highly recommended.
John F. Riddick. Central Michigan Univ. Lib., Mount Pleasant
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
Pakistan, a nation for only fifty-five years, has had a turbulent history. Ruled by the military for half its existence, it has seen three wars with India and the loss of much of its territory. The combination of political instability, deep-seated economic and social problems, and access to nuclear weapons has made it one of the most strategically sensitive countries in the world. The war in neighboring Afghanistan has placed it at the very center of global attention and projected its military ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, onto the world stage. Musharraf has become the first Pakistani leader in thirty years to dare to confront the country’s Islamic extremists. But can he succeed in controlling the forces that helped create the Taliban in Afghanistan? In this riveting history of Pakistan from 1947 to the present, Bennett Jones describes the many fault lines in Pakistani society. While most Pakistanis have a moderate, tolerant vision of Islam, he argues, the country’s central institutions are so weak that the military regime may prove incapable of rescuing the “failed state” of Pakistan.
About the Author
Owen Bennett Jones was a BBC correspondent in Pakistan between 1998 and 2001 and witnessed firsthand many of the events that brought General Musharraf to power. He has written for the Guardian, Financial Times, and Independent newspapers, the London Review of Books and Prospect magazine.