Customer Reviews

In the Line of Fire: A Memoir

5 star:		(63)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(24)

 

 

Upfront disclosure - I'm a 33 year old Indian male living in the US, and I'm generally going to focus on the strengths of the book. And the 4 stars is for content and ability to hold interest, mine atleast.

Of all the dictators on the planet, surely Musharraf leads one of the most fascinating and dangerous lives. And how often does a ruling dictator write an accessible book? It makes for fascinating reading if only to gain a perspective not available on CNN or other news source. Musharraf is clearly an extremely talented, shrewd and for the most part cogent writer that understands his place in the delicate balance of American anti-terrorism efforts and escalating domestic and to some extent Islamic-world discontent at his handling of the war against terror and the aftermath of AQ Khan's misdeeds. The book illustrates the somewhat absolute influence of the Pakistan army over civilian lives and decisions as well as the alarming possibility that it may be difficult for even Musharraf to exert complete control over miscreant elements within it. Musharraf himself may be trying to curb the extent of the army's influence in domestic life now and probably because he realizes the very instrument that allowed him to get power may end up destroying him and any hope of a workable detente with India. It also highlights the flaws in simplistically poking holes in Pakistani domestic and foreign policy without gaining an understanding of the knife-edge on which Musharraf himself operates.

The book of course has its flaws. From the self-promotion, to the egregiously erroneous account of Kargil compared to neutral observers and journalists, to the obvious focus on events and details of events that establish a clearly biased position...

Regardless, it is a fun book to read for anyone that cares about the sub- continent and the people that shape it.

Whether President Musharraf's book is full of lies or not, we'll never know for sure but I can say one thing for sure - it is one of the most gripping books I have read this year. He gives a very detailed account of all the critical things that have hapenned in Pakistan politics in the last 10 or so years starting with the Kargil conflict. It is as expected a very accessible reading, almost conversational in style. His writing has a distinct lack of guile and he is not afraid to discuss highly controversial issues such as his military coup or his decision to not give up his military powers in 2004 as he had earlier promised. His explanations though are not always convincing. If you like mystery novels, you would love the chapters where he explains in detail how Pakistan's intelligence services tracked down and then arrested a number of most wanted terrorists. It's literally a day-by-day and in some cases (like the chapter on his military coup) a minute-by-minute detail of events. Once you pick it up, you won't be able to put it down.

What I don't like about the book is its annoying and overdone bravado, numerous repititions (sometime ridiculous to the point that even the same page is pasted in multiple places to describe the same event multiple times leaving the reader turning the pages to make sure he is not reading the same chapter again) and sometimes just way too much self-promotion. The fact that it is gripping doesn't mean that it is flawless. In fact it has a few major flaws and contradictions. What I find quite amusing is that Mr. Musharraf contradicts himself in so many places without ever noticing it. In the chapter on Kargil conflict, for example, most of the evidence he lays out in painstaking detail actually implicates Pakistan as the instigator. But he being totally oblivious to that, keeps on browbeating about how brave his soldiers were and how India had forced them unwittingly into the conflict. In places, he criticizes somebody for doing something in one chapter and two chapters later he describes how he did essentially the samething at a later time.

I get a distinct feeling from reading this book that Mr. Musharraf has a deep disregard for bureaucracy, politicians and in general of any form of civilian administration. He hammers home this point at several occassions in the book not the least of which is the way he continuously refers to the 1990's decade as the "dreaded decade of democracy" in Pakistan. There is a general consensus among Pakistani intelligentsia that Zia's 11 years dictatorship caused more long-lasting harm to every institution and indeed the very social fabric of Pakistan than any other government in the history of the country with the excpetion of Yahya Khan's short-lived regime. Yet while Mr. Musharraf spends a lot of ink vilifying each democratically elected prime minister all the way from Mr. Bhutto to the last government of Nawaz Sharif, he is unduly reserved in his criticism of Zia's regime and of Zia-ul-Haq himself. You get a sense of military brotherhood when he talks about Zia and even about Yahya Khan - I find that most disconcerting. Also I find it propagandistic given the simple and undisputable fact that Pakistan for most of its tumultous political history has been under one military rule or another and democracy has never been given sufficient time to flourish in the country.

The numbers Mr. Musharraf quotes to prove how his government has turned around the economy are very impressive. Mr. Musharraf's government is currently in the midst of major economic scandals and some of the statistics he so proudly quotes in his book have been disputed by non-partisan institutions and experts. However, overall you do get a sense and I think quite rightly so that his government is doing a better job than any other government in the last decacde or so in Pakistan especially when it comes to economy and freedom of the press. He also discusses at length his plans to strengthen democratic institutions in Pakistan and to provide women means to prosper politically, socially and economically in a male-dominated Pakistani society. Whether he is sincere in his plans or not, he is certainly the first head of government in Pakistan post-Bhutto who at least has identified the true causes of failure of democracy in Pakistan and has a pragmatic plan of action to correct those failures. I get the feeling that some of his ideas in this regard have been inspired by Farid Zakaria's writings on democrarcy and freedom. In any case, his plans seem practical and I hope he remains sincere to his words and actually succeeds in implementing them hopefully by taking a more inclusive approach.

I especially enjoyed reading Mr. Musharraf's views on the so-called clash of civilizations. His thoughts though not original are insightful and expressed in a logical fashion. He goes on to present his personal ideas on how to resolve the Israeli-Palestine problem. He does the same for the Kashmir conflict. In both cases, I was struck by the pragmatic nature of his ideas. It would have been more comfortable for him to take extreme positions on both of these issues. Such extreme rhetoric would have resonated well with the majority of Muslim masses all over the world. Instead by his candor and logical stance, he shows that he is indeed sincere about resolving these issues and is actually pursuing a viable plan of action. Like most Pakistanis, I have no illusions that Mr. Musharraf would be able to resolve any of the two issues. I do think, however, that he might be able to institute a new way of thinking and perhaps even a process in place that might help resolve these issues several years down the road.

The secular intelligentsia in Pakistan may be divided into three broad groups as far as their views on Musharraf's regime are cocerned. First is group of intellectuals who will oppose his regime regardless of whatever it does. This is the group of individuals who believe that democracy is not just a means but an end in itself and thus a dictatorship benign or otherwise must cease to exist. They have some very valid points and most of their views cannot be discounted. The other extreme is the group that believes that democrarcy is a foreign idea and can never flourish in the socio-cultural environment in Pakistan. This group has some valid points too though theirs are based more on how democratic regimes have fared so far in Pakistan. As such at times they sound too short-sighted. There is fortunately a steadily growing third group of intellectuals in Pakistan who are willing to give Musharraf's regime a chance. This is largely a breakaway from the first group. This is the group of individuals who were very skeptical of Musharraf's regime early on but were refreshingly surprised to see that his regime is not marred by the same ills that had characterized prior military governments. For example, his is the first dictatorship in Pakistan's history that has not only tolerated but actively encouraged freedom of speech and expression. Even Pakistan's democratically elected governments have a shameful record in this regard. Mr. Bhutto, for example, was known to use sometimes brutal and humiliating means to quiesce leaders of the media, Mr. Sharif's government would stop all government advertisements (a major source of a newspaper revenue) for those newspapers that openly criticized his regime. Both had a tight control on television and radio and never allowed any difference of opinion to surface there. No point discussing the prior military regimes as they were just outright savage when it came to even a slight difference of opinion. Similarly, Mr. Musharraf is doing a lot more for the rights of women and minorities in Pakistan than the prior regimes. In this and many other regards, Musharraf's is a more democratic regime than Pakistan has seen in its history i.e. if you subscribe to the point of view that the foremost objective of democracy is to provide social, political and economic justice to the people regardless of their race, gender or ethnic background. Mr. Musharraf's record is mixed when it comes to ethnic minorities, the Bughti crisis being the case in point. However, in my opinion the jury is still out on this one. Mr. Musharraf's regime just like his book is not perfect, in fact it's full of flaws but at least there seems to be a genuine attempt to correct the damage done by the successive regimes before him. Nevertheless, this group is running out of patience. Everytime Mr. Musharraf twists the constitution to suit his needs, he loses support among the people in the third group and that support is vital to his government's survival. Pakistanis have a lot to be pessimistic about, what the poeple need is an optimistic piture of the future and tangible progress towards it. This optimistic future doesn't just have justice and economic prosperity but also provides the Pakistanis the ability to elect their own representatives including the head of the state. Mr. Musharraf needs to do a lot more in this regard and he needs to do it fast as many of his supporters are turning back into cynics.

The book is written mainly for international readers and mystery and suspense fans of all backgrounds and I think both groups will enjoy it immensely. The main objective of the book seems to be three-folds - (a) promote Mr. Musharraf as the great secular leader of the Muslim world essentially the 21st century Attaturk and prove that he is the best thing that could happen to not only Pakistan but to the world at large (b) improve Pakistan's image in the eyes of the international public and prove that Pakistan is doing its very best in fighting terrorism and last but not least to emphatically counter the views that India's lobby routinely spreads against the country. I think Mr. Musharraf succeeds in achieving these objectives with varying degrees of success.

A Prime Minister orchestrating the hijacking of his military chief, a President's cavalcade being rocked by blasts which throw his car into the air which is then driven on rims for miles to safety, manhunts of al-qaeda's top leadership in Pakistan's fashionable urban centers as well as its desolate deserts and mountains, often using cell phone monitoring and DNA evidence from mutilated bodies, tense negotiations between the world's newest nuclear powers and instituting moderation, democratic reform and economic revival in a Muslim state veering towards extremism. All these elements, rightly choreographed, could be woven into a best-selling novel. However, we are not discussing fiction-this is the story of Pakistan's sitting President, Pervez Musharraf, whose real life memoir, "In the Line of Fire," is selling like hot a best seller.

The book must be read because it opens a window into Pakistan-a frontline country in the global war on terror. Pakistan stands poised on a fork-one prong leading to democracy, moderate Islam and economic revival and the other venturing into the uncertainty of reactionary Islamic extremism and economic uncertainty. It is also important because very little independent accounts of the country's contemporary affairs are available, and this one comes from the sitting head of government, who is likely to steer Pakistan's ship for some time to come.

The downside is that the account is biased-as Musharraf targets the West as the primary audience for his work- and ends up portraying himself as the indispensable saviour of the sinking state of Pakistan. The reality is that Pakistan is not sinking and he is not indispensable.

For a student of the complex state that is Pakistan, this book offers valuable insights into Pakistan's "collective mindset," which permeates the narrative. Unlike India, which inherited the infrastructure of British India, Pakistan could barely survive after the partition holocaust of 1947, which saw millions killed. When the nascent state perceived it was deprived of Kashmir due to a nonexistent military in 1947-48, it assumed a "Pakistan-under-siege" mindset, which still prevails even if has lessened in intensity. The quest for security strengthened the military disproportionately against other institutions of the state and has led to the khaki shadow engulfing all aspects of Pakistan, infact choking civilian growth. The desire to "liberate" Kashmir is so strong, that it has led to two military misadventures, one in 1965 and the other in 1999, ie, Kargil. The "Pakistan-under-siege" mindset was further reinforced, rather permanently etched into Pakistan's "establishment," after its dismemberment in 1971. After the 1974 India test, Pakistan went all out to get a nuclear deterrent, which explains the kind of autonomy AQ Khan enjoyed till his infamous exploits in exporting nuclear technology were discovered in 2003. The mindset also explains Pakistan's aversion to taking strong action against the Taliban because of the need to secure its western frontier.

The fascinating parts of the book relate to the hunt for the elusive leaders of al-qaeda, especially Abu Zubaida, Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, and Al-Libbi. Abu Zubaida was arrested as a result of 13 simultaneous raids in urban Punjab. Khalid Sheikh Mohammad had chosen a safe house in Rawalpindi, akin to the Pentagon in the US, a few minutes from Pakistan army's headquarters. A low level al-qaeda courier had squeaked about the general area and not the specific houses. On intuition, Pakistan's intelligence raided two houses to arrest him. Al-Libbi was missed thrice in Pakistan's rugged Frontier province before he was surrounded by burqa (black veil) wielding Pakistani agents. The tools used to arrest these "high value" targets were cell phone tracing done indigenously by using the SIMs (subscriber identification modules) in the first generation mobile phones used by al-qaeda operatives, half burnt id cards and of course, intelligence provided by CIA which has constantly worked with Pakistan's agencies. These encounters in chapter 20-25 run like a James Hadley Chase thriller.

Written in a simple and personal style, there is a lot of "I" in the book. In the beginning, it doesn't irk, because Musharraf describes his formative years. However, one starts to realize soon that there is a lot of smugness and self-applause in the book, mostly at the expense of others. Parts of the narrative appear vain and childishly self-praising. Witness his description of his relations with his subordinates when he commanded a unit. "I have always been loved by those under my command and therefore I could move them to achieve anything I desired. ----------I ran with them (normally in the lead)." However, such parts also lend an honesty to the narrative-he is writing what he believes-and has not tampered his account to suit his readership.

The facts in the book have been factually tailored to suit Musharraf, and herein lies its greatest weakness. Kargil- described by Musharraf as a victory- was actually an embarrassing misadventure. Musharraf counts the Indian losses, but not the loss of life on the Pakistani side, as well as the diplomatic disaster that ensued. His account of the 2001 Agra summit with Prime Minister Vajpayee puts the blame of failure on India's extremist BJP leadership, conveniently forgetting his ill-timed, show stealing, Kashmir centric televised press conference which actually the chances of a compromise. The blame for sharing nuclear technology is put solely on AQ Khan's shoulders, although it is implausible to imagine that the then military leadership, which included Musharraf, was in the dark. His remarks about some of his military colleagues leave a bad taste, as do his remarks about some of his Indian and Afghan interlocutors. On the domestic front, he highlights one of Pakistan's human rights heroines, Mukhtaran Mai, but conveniently forgets another equally courageous woman, Dr Shazia Khalid, who was allegedly raped by a military officer and later whisked away to London. This case also reveals Musharraf's blind spot-the overarching and debilitating shadow of Pakistan's military on the state, which had choked civil society institutions.

Musharraf also disappoints as far as his reform agenda for Pakistan is concerned. His theory of enlightened moderation is admirable, but his plans for poverty alleviation in Pakistan seem amateurish and inadequate. By ousting Pakistan's two popular, though discredited civilian leaders, Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan's democracy can at best be described as controlled. In seven years, he has done nothing to improve social services at the peoples level; nothing to improve the judiciary and law enforcement and civil service reform is non-existent. His dishing out of all top civilian jobs to retired and serving military officers has led to resentment and demoralization in the civil service. One can easily see that he cannot think beyond himself, and beyond the army. Therefore he seems incapable of ushering in real democracy and real reform of Pakistan's civil society and social sectors. Real democracy would be a threat to his remaining in office and real reform would only be possible if the exorbitant defence expenditure and dominance of military is rolled back-something he is incapable of doing.

Disappointments aside, the book is valuable because it opens up to the world the mind of Pakistan's ruler, and of Pakistan's collective decision making mindset. Musharraf's pomposity, tailoring of facts and the use of the "I," though irritating, also mean that the narrative comes from his heart, and is an honest rendition of his feelings and policies, past, present and future. As a Pakistani, one cannot help but wishing that he would turn out to be a Pakistani De Gualle, someone who ushers in real reform in Pakistan and fades away. But for that to happen-Musharraf would have to metamorphose before he can endeavor to change Pakistan.

It is not too often that a sitting head of state pens his memoirs while still in office. Both Indian and Pakistani readers should keep this in mind. It is extremely naive of Indian readers to expect a Pakistani President and incumbent Army Chief to actually criticize the Pakistani midadventure of Kargil or be completely honest about it. Isn't it also equally naive of Pakistani readers to expect anything but a flummoxed reaction from Indians given the fact that the Pakistani leader is pushing for peace with India? Coming to the book itself - is it engaging? Yes, it is. Is it honest? Depends on your definition of "honest". This book is obviously ghost-written with a fair bit of input from Mush. If "honesty" means facts, than the book is a bit lacking - because Musharraf comes across as an extremely opinionated man. He castigates everyone from Z.A. Bhutto, his daughter Benazir to Nawaz Sharif, his brothers and even his old father and potrays himself as the saviour of Pakistan - on opinions, not facts. He also credits himself with the alleged turnaround of the Pakistani economy. I would have been more impressed if the book had stated facts and let the reader decide what he or she thinks of the General. What I can say is that Musharraf comes across as intensely patriotic and definitely not as a religious zealot. He sure has a tendency to make rather sensationalist remarks; even insinuating (he does not say it flat out) that India may have actually stolen centrifuge designs from - ahem - discarded Pakistani ones. Does he provide proof of that? No - but then, it is an insinuation and not an assertion. Nor do I think many Pakistani readers would be happy with his potrayal of disgraced scientist A.Q. Khan. Positively, I like the General's "out of box" Kashmir solution. He makes it clear that it is his "personal suggestion" and not the official line of the Govt. of Pakistan. Will the people of India and Pakistan accept his suggestion given that it is progressive? I don't think it would be acceptable in the immediate future - it is way too much, way too soon and requires the kind of trust between foes that can't be built overnight. But due credit to the General for trying. From the American point of view, there is nothing new to add. Perhaps the only damp squib is the Armitage message - it does ring eery and one hopes it is an exception and not a message which set a precedent on how to win allies. Armitage ofcourse, has denied making those remarks.


Do I think it is worth a buy? Sure, if nothing else, it is definitely worth a read. It gives you an insight into the mind of a leader who thinks he is great. I have reservations about that but I do believe he is in a unique position in the world. How is that? Well, he is the current Islamic poster boy of Bush - a moderate, liberal-minded leader of a nation whose population (major part of) is not necessarily moderate in its views toward the USA. What's more - he is fighting for the American line of thought at personal risk to life and limb. 9/11 gave him the chance to reverse the trend of him being treated as an international pariah who overthrew a democractically elected government. Remember Clinton refusing to shake hands with him? He reversed the trend by supporting the US and abandoning support of the Taliban. It was a smart move - he did not have much of a choice in the matter. As of writing this review, the book is #6 on Amazon sales. Thanks to its controversial views, it may just hit #1. Who gets the last laugh? The General of course :)

I find it a touch amusing that many Indians are giving the book 1 star and Pakistanis are giving it 5 stars (probably without EITHER of them reading it). I hope both sides see this as a book. It has its share of flaws but is still imminently readable. Is it being used for propoganda? Only if you let the author and publisher use you. I am sure you are smart enough to come to your own conclusions without having to beat the drums of war at the drop of a hat.

Although I am an American, I have lived in Pakistan and Bangladesh, and have visited India. This is the main reason why I actually bought this book (looking at many of the reviews shows that many of the people who bought the book were either Pakistani or Indian).

To be honest, I believe that this book has to be taken with a grain of salt. Thats not to say this book is full of lies and deceit, but it is written by a head of state who is currently in power, and who wrote this book probably not least of all because there is a chance that he will not be able to step down from power alive.

Unlike many other "memoirs" that I read, I got the genuine feeling that Musharraf actually did a lot of work on this. This was, in part, due to the fact that the book wasn't written like a "proper" writer would write it. That increased my liking of the book significantly; it may not have been incredibly well written (it was well written, of course, but not Dan Brown well written), but it was deffinetly a good read.

Another thing I appreciated about this book was the background it gave. It wasn't just a propaganda-filled book spouting the superiority of Pakistan (although there was a tiny bit of that), but it actually showed what Musharrafs life was like. He wasn't like many "dictators". They all re-write their childhood to say what a marvelous life they had (or what a horrible life they had, and to show how they overcame immense odds to become great leaders). Musharraf speaks plainly about his childhood, and talks about many things other "dictators" would get rid of. For example, he wrote about how he was an ill-behaved youth, how during his childhood he spoke better Turkish than Urdu (the official language of Pakistan), how he was unable to go to certain educational institutions, etc.

One of the most striking traits I saw in this book was the fact that Musharraf really seems to have a deep love for the position of his people. Unlike many other "dictators", he truly puts the people of Pakistan first. This is shown by his lifelong devotion to the country as well as by all the work he has done setting Pakistan on the course to democracy and prosperity. Musharraf is not a Stalinesque dictator, who takes power for personal gain. Musharraf is the person who takes power in order to reform his country for the well-being of its people. No matter what you charge Musharraf for, you can never charge him of not having the people first.

All in all, I found this a good read. It wasn't the best book I had ever read, but it was deffinetly up there. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in politics, the indian sub-continent, or anyone who just wants to read about a person who has immense influence on our modern world.

Its a very interesting book. I would say a must read for all Americans so we can understand the complexities of global war on terrorism. I was going to write a long review but some of the comments from Indians are really bizarre. I have a lot of Indian friends but I've noticed that when it comes to Pakistan, a logical Indian mind becomes completely illogical and irrational. This senseless hate got to stop at some point and both people need to move forward with a comprehensive (both physical and mental) peace accord. I hope sensible people from both sides understand that the only way out is peace and justice for all. Cheers!

A good book for a timepass. Havn't got a chance to finish it all but would be good if Mush (short of Musharraf and originated from Bush) had published it after his Military coupe but I guess he is not quite sure if he is gonna live another day.

About the book: You can get it for free online (some guru has uploaded the PDF version of this book). Nice book, nice stories and a great effort by whoever has actually written the book :)

This autobiography of President Pervez Musharraf is a must read for all followers of Pakistan, and indeed, it will be of great interest to politics watchers in Pakistan, Bangladesh and India.

The book is refreshing and charming, not the least because Gen. Musharraf is so open about the details of his life, and his scrapes with trouble as a youngster.

The tone of the book also is clearly that of an extroverted 'Army type' with many a boast of past victories and juicy war stories. This is part of its charm, for it greatly humanizes Pres. Musharraf, and one gets the feeling of somebody who is self-confident, boisterous, and quick to shoot from the hip with his opinions, in other words, a bluff plain-spoken soldier.

Speaking strictly as a civilian (and an Indian one at that) this book confirms that Pres. Musharraf is very happily a 'guppe baaz' (as one would say in Urdu, i.e. a spinner of tales) whenever he wants to be.

I strongly disagree with his glowing account of the Pakistan Army's performance in Kargil, but on the other hand, as he is currently the Chief of Army Staff in Pakistan, it would be quite dishonorable of him to let down his men (jawans) and instead criticize their performance.

No leader can decently do that, least of all a leader of soldiers.

All in all, a very interesting book, which conveys an impression of a likeable, if shrewd and savvy, personality.

I for one would certainly like to see more such topical and current autobiographies written by other members of the South Asian political scene.

In the Line of Fire is the most self-congratulatory, self-serving and arrogant books I've read in a long time, but what some people don't seem to grasp is that these reasons are what makes the book so entertaining to read. Of course the leader of a country that took power by military coup is going to produce a fictional auto-biography, but to complain about it so much misses the point. Know that you're getting a very specific version of the "truth" when you pick this book up, but at the sime time you're also getting a suspense filled page turner because you have no idea what he's going to say next.

Musharraf likens his own personal history to that of Pakistan's history as a nation, even going so far as to include commentary on the back cover that "the entire world depends upon him to succeed." While this a bit of a stretch to say the least, his story is entertaining. The complete random nature of much of the book can be frustrating for some, but it means never having to get bogged down in the details. The sections on his childhood are particularly entertaining, but the best part of the book by far is the story of how he came to power. According to Musharraf, he didn't come to power through a military coup. The Prime Minister in power in 1999 who was trying to get rid of Musharraf was the one responsible for the coup. Musharraf and the army carried out a "counter-coup" for the sake of the nation. Classic.

You may find yourself wondering why Musharraf wrote this book and who his intended audience was. This book was clearly meant for Americans. It wasn't written for his own country, and narcissism aside, for himself either. This book was written to convince Americans unsure of whether Musharraf is a "good guy" or "bad guy" that he is indeed on our side. He tries so hard to appear as America's friend in the book that it almost becomes painful at times. His desire to cultivate this image trumps the overal quality of the book because by the end, he's merely tacking on three or four page chapters on things like the emancipation of women or the "soft" image of Pakistan. The supreme irony here is that if enough of his opponents in Pakistan actually read this book, they might be able to muster enough support to overthrow Musharraf. This is the exact opposite image that he needs to present at home in order to stay in power.

Something else important to keep in mind is that Musharraf has the most unenviable job in the entire world. He has reactionary religious extremists at home that want to overthrow him on one hand, and the U.S. threatening to bomb Pakistan back to the stone age on the other. He's caught in a very tight spot with practically no room to maneuver. That he's been able to stay alive and in power for so long is truly remarkable. It's hard for me at least to be so critical of someone in that position.

Most reviews of this book posted on Amazon are useless since the Indians are giving it one star, and the Pakistanis overcome by their numerically dominant neighbors are compensating by giving it 5 stars. Yes, the Economist was correct that the book comes across as boastful especially when it comes to General Musharraf's recollection of his own career progress. And his account of Kargil might not be wholly accurate. But then this is a book written for the first time by a sitting head of state. For him to acknowledge major political mistakes would be akin to George Bush saying that Iraq war was big mistake and that he has endangered the country. It will not happen. So you have to read the book with the right perspective.

The most interesting part of the book is the account of major anti-terrorism operations. This chapter reads better than any suspense novel. Musharraf's discourse over his peace overtures with India, emancipation of women, relief and rebuilding efforts in the wake of a truly devastating earthquake, and reform of democratic institutions at the grass root level, are all indeed inspiring. His idea of enlightened moderation might perhaps be most critical since this is exactly the type of philosophy which can put Islam, as practiced in Pakistan, back on the path of moderation and modernity.

I would certainly recommend this book who wants to understand Pakistan and its present day struggles against the challenges within, and problem of external perceptions which often are unjustly negative.