3 Review(s)

Tinderbox: The Past And Future Of Pakistan is an intriguing, historical, and accurate account of Pakistan as a nation. It traces the history of the nation right from its roots, beginning with the birth of two nations, India and Pakistan in 1947, to what it has become today. Summary Of The Book It is often said that to know the future, one must study the past. This seems to hold true for Tinderbox: The Past and Future Of Pakistan, a book that gives a detailed and fascinating account of the facts surrounding Pakistan’s history, its birth, ideologies, and philosophies, including the origins of Jihad. Mohammed Ali Jinnah was instrumental in creating a division of British India primarily with the vision of a secular nation having a Muslim majority. However, while India flourished as a secular nation, Pakistan evolved under the influences of tyrants, rulers, generals, and Jihadists among whom, the name Maulana Maududi stands out the most. Hailed as the godfather of Pakistan, he founded the Jamaat-e-Islami. Tinderbox: The Past And Future Of Pakistan is exhaustive as it spans thousand years of history, and yet it is intriguing in its approach to rather difficult subjects. The tension between the two nations, India and Pakistan, the growing conflict between Hindu and Muslim cultures, and the influence they had on defining Pakistan as a nation, are all covered extensively in this book. It provides a contextual and accurate understanding of historical events, political figures, the early beginnings of Jihad and Taliban and their place in Modern Islam, and their collective role in shaping Pakistan’s present and future in the international arena. About M. J. Akbar An author and one of India’s leading journalists, M. J. Akbar was born in 1951, and graduated with a BA in English Honours from Presidency College in Calcutta. He has written many books, including Riot After Riot, The Shade of Swords: Jihad and the Conflict Between Islam and Christianity, India The Siege Within, Blood Brothers A Family Saga, Kashmir Behind The Vale, and Nehru: The Making of India. With investigative reporting running through his veins, Akbar writes mainly non-fiction political books, centered on themes portraying the history of Hindu-Muslim relations, Indo-Pak tensions, and the birth of Jihad. He began his career in journalism with The Times Of India in 1971, and went on to work for many publications including, The Illustrated Weekly Of India, Onlooker, and Sunday, which he turned into one of India’s largest selling weeklies. Until October 2012, he was the Editorial Director of India Today, a leading English news magazine. Having joined politics for a few years, and accepting the position of an advisor to the Ministry of Human Resources in 1991, he returned to journalism and full fledged writing in 1994, creating Asian Age and subsequently, The International Herald Tribune and The Sunday Guardian.