From Publishers Weekly Journalist Schmidle offers a gripping, grim account of his two years as a journalism fellow in Pakistan, where his travels took him into the most isolated and unfriendly provinces, and into the thick of interests and beliefs that impede that nation’s peace and progress. The author reports on the murky relationship between the Pakistani intelligence agencies and the Taliban and how American bombings have actually helped the Taliban gain influence in the border regions. While Schmidle amplifies the danger an unstable Pakistan poses to its neighbors and the world, he also turns a constructively critical eye back to American support of mujahideen during the Afghan war against the Soviets and shows how…. Click Here to Read More

Review “Finally, there is a single book that provides a solid, comprehensive introduction to Pakistan. Informative and insightful. . .” — Marvin G. Weinbaum, Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois, and former Pakistan analyst at the U.S. Department of State”THE IDEA OF PAKISTAN is an intellectual tour de force, a gripping and informative tale. . .” — Dennis Kux, Senior Policy Scholar, Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars”This is a thorough, balanced, intelligent assessment of Pakistan’s crucially important struggle to find stability and successful modern identity.” — Steve Coll, author of Ghost Wars”uch of this book is a rock-solid, dependable history of Pakistan.” — Owen Bennett Jones, Washington Post Book World,…. Click Here to Read More