A History of Pakistan and Its Origins (Anthem South Asian Studies) [Hardcover]

Christoph Jaffrelot (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 26, 2002 | Series: Anthem South Asian Studies

'A History of Pakistan and its Origins' is a comprehensive, detailed and fully up-to-date study of one of the most diverse, volatile and strategically significant countries in the world today. Written by an internationally renowned team of scholars, it covers historical, social, economic, political and religious aspects of this fascinating nation.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Will challenge tradional history. Interesting reading..' —'Choice'

'This book has remarkable potential for infusing Asian themes into academic curriculums…a topic of great interest and importance.' —Dr Abdul Jabbar, 'Education About Asia'

'Jaffrelot and his distinguished team make clear that Musharraf's attitude to the Islamist agenda is fraught with ambiguity and irony.' —'International Affairs'

Book Description

 A comprehensive study of the historical, social, economic, political and religious aspects of this fascinating nation.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 326 pages
• Publisher: Anthem Press; First edition (November 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1843310309
• ISBN-13: 978-1843310303
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,281,337 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most comprehensive and objective book on Pakistan out today, February 7, 2004

By 

pma - See all my reviews

This review is from: A History of Pakistan and Its Origins (Anthem South Asian Studies) (Hardcover)

Every since September 11th, countless books about Pakistan have been published, each scrutizing its history as nothing but a state bent on growing the seeds of Islamic fundamentalism. This book is a welcome contrast, and hats off to Jaffrelot, a Frenchman, and his team for doing an extensive amount of research about the initial foundations of the country, all of the political tumult, the events leading to Bangladeshi secession and the tense relationship with India, the role as a proxy during the Cold War, the constitutional straying from Jinnah's secular vision, and an invaluable lesson in ethnography and religion, described in much more detail than the average book on the country (for example, not only does it describe Sunnism and Shi'ism as being the two main branches of Islam practiced in the country, it delves into subsets and sub-subsets of each branch, so that the reader gets a much better understanding of the incredible religious diversity within the Pakistani Muslim community itself). The main compliment I have about this book is that it remains extremely academic and objective. Never is it written in an alarmist way, and it doesn't favor one political movement over another. It refrains from sugarcoating any misdeeds of the government, the army, or the population, yet at the same time, it doesn't resort to demonizing the nation, either. It just states how things are over there now, and how things were in the past. It is a much more fascinating and educational read (for Pakistanis and non-Pakistanis alike) than other "Beware Pakistan!" types written by so-called Western "experts" on the region who try to make the reader believe that the entire country is one big madrassah intent to destroying the United States (far from it), or "Pakistan - The Glorious" types written by heavily biased Pakistani writers who believe that every single thing wrong within the country is due to a "foreign hand." If you would like to get a good base knowledge about the dynamics of this country caught within an extremely tumultuous global political game, put this book at the top of the list.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dense, Detailed, but Rewarding, March 31, 2010

By 

Will Jerom (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: A History of Pakistan and Its Origins (Paperback)

Christophe Jaffrelot has compiled a very impressive and detailed account of the history and origins of Pakistan. Those seeking a rich source of academic information will be well-rewarded in reading this work. If you are not already experienced in the history of Pakistan, it might be easier to begin at Chapter 3 "A Fruitless Search for Democracy." It offers a more straight-forward chronological review of the political administrations of Pakistan. Jaffrelot's book reads at the upper college or graduate level, and is a sophisticated presentation of the historical forces that drove Pakistan towards partition, including the religious, political, and economic factors that have shaped the region and its long-standing confrontation with India. Although it is a dense, and packed with details -so by no means the easiest of reading experiences - it is rewarding in its comprehensive review of Pakistani history.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed Bag..., July 23, 2009

By 

Book Reader (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A History of Pakistan and Its Origins (Anthem South Asian Studies) (Paperback)

The book approaches Pakistan from a number of perspectives, segregated into different sections, just as Cohen's does. This strategy helps break down a very complex subject into realistic portions, as well as allow the reader to choose what angle -- e.g., foreign relations, military, political -- to concentrate on in any one time. HOWEVER, the book is either poorly written or poorly translated or both: at best, the writing is stilted and dense, and not fast-going; at worst, you might have to go back over a sentence or paragraph just to figure out what is trying to be said or if there is a point to the paragraph. Really, I don't expect poor writing style to be an issue in commercially published books, but this is an exception. This being said, it is a wealth of info if you are willing to slog through it. Go with Cohen's book first.