Pakistan

Named a Best Book of the Year by The Daily Telegraph and The Independent

Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and Longlisted for the Orwell Prize

“Ambitious . . . A sweeping and insightful narrative.” 

“[Lieven] brings an infectious enthusiasm to his task of summarizing the workings of the world's sixth most populous country. In this quest, he ranges effortlessly from a police station in Peshawar to a politician’s mansion in the Punjab to the mean streets of Karachi. He dishes up pithy observations while delving deep into the nation’s history, politics, culture, and institutions. . . . Lieven’s eye for detail, command of subcontinental history and old-fashioned shoe-leather reporting make this in many ways an excellent primer on Pakistan.” 

“By far the most insightful survey of Pakistan I have read in recent years. . . . A vital book . . . Detailed and nuanced.” 

“Lieven has written a sensible and thorough exploration of Pakistan’s political sphere. . . . Pakistan is a large subject, and an unforgivingly complicated one at that, yet Lieven manages to tackle some of its most obscure problems without losing his cool. . . . Lieven has written a very measured book, no easy task when writing about such a hard country.” 

“Pakistan, as Anatol Lieven explains in this thorough analysis of the internal sources of this resilience, will not disintegrate easily. . . . He deftly tackles the misperception in the west that Islamist groups might easily sweep through Pakistan.” 

“Lieven overturns many prejudices, and gives general readers plenty of fresh concepts with which to think about a routinely misrepresented country.” 

“[Lieven’s] book may be described as the most informed Gazetteer on contemporary Pakistan. Instead of the too often repeated narrative of Pakistan’s history and ills, he offers a broader sweep into the condition of the provinces, the climate, the political parties and their personalities—and, in his best chapter, an important discussion of how today’s Taliban represent a continuation of similar uprisings a century ago.” 

“This book could hardly be timelier. Lucid and well informed, [Lieven] deals carefully with Pakistan’s well-known problems. He raises hope, avoiding the hysteria and partial judgment that disfigure much contemporary writing on the subject. Above all, he emanates a deep affection bordering on love for the unfortunate, beleaguered, magical Pakistan.” 

“Challenging the notion that Pakistan is fragile, Lieven presents in exquisite detail how things actually work, for better or for worse, in that ‘hard country.’” 

“For drama, colour and complexity, [Pakistan] is hard to beat; and Anatol Lieven captures the richness of the place wonderfully. His book has the virtues of both journalism and scholarship.” 

“Lieven’s feat lies in his remarkable, flesh-and-blood portrait of the nation, ranging across demographic swathes and including a chorus of voices from farmers to intelligence officers. The picture is one of a semi-anarchic nation mired in police savagery, institutional corruption, population bulges, water shortages and the risk of catastrophic environmental disaster following last year’s floods.” 

“A unique blend of historical, political, and anthropological insight.” 

“Over the last decade, Lieven has been one of the smartest and most fair-minded commentators on the global situation, and in this important, very timely book, he explains the regions, classes, history, and prospects of Pakistan with equal value for both the neophyte and the expert.” 

“Truly excellent . . . A highly readable and invigorating mix of academic analysis, history and ground reporting. It should become, if not a bestseller, certainly the text of reference.” 

“This is a wonderful book, full of learning, wisdom, humour and common sense.” 

“[Pakistan] does much to counter lazy assumptions about the country that proliferate elsewhere.” 

“[Lieven’s] analysis of networks and systems is precise; his accounts of his travels illuminating as well as entertaining.” 

“Pakistan: A Hard Country manages to be clear-headed and realistic, a welcome respite from the scare-mongering that taints so many western accounts of Pakistan.” 

“His experience as a reporter gives Lieven both the tone of an insider and a vast affection for the country, which he credits for giving him ‘some of the best moments’ of his life. In an attempt to explain the world’s sixth-most populous nation in under 600 pages, Lieven ranges widely, touching upon everything from the rise and fall of landed families in the Punjab to the sloth of the national police to the garish décor in wealthy homes. To this ambitious task the author brings both thoroughness and an impressive familiarity with his subject.” 

“The most striking thing about [Pakistan] is its informed and consistently sensible tone. This tone is not heard much in discussions about Pakistan, and it is refreshing. Lieven writes in an affable, conversational voice, but not a casual one. His observations are precise and judicious.” 

“A thought-provoking and widely influential new book.” 

“Pakistan: A Hard Country serves as an outstanding primer—even reading just the introduction is supremely useful. . . . Lieven crafts a lucid and thoroughly fascinating whole from a wealth of information. . . . Pakistan: A Hard Country is the work of one of those rare writers able to see his subject in all its complexity, without either turning away or becoming a partisan of one perspective or the other.” 

“Brilliant. The book is well researched, informative, insightful, but most of all for a country that finds itself often in headline news for the wrong reasons, empathetic.” 

“An insightful book that is part anthropological study, part reportage. Threaded throughout are the voices of ordinary Pakistani farmers, politicians, spooks, landowners, businessmen, soldiers, judges, clerics and jihadis whose contributions in the form of direct quotes enliven and illuminate this complex yet affectionate portrait of their country. Published just before bin Laden’s death, the book does not read as if it has been overtaken by events. Indeed, its textured, penetrating survey of the dynamics shaping contemporary Pakistan could hardly be more timely, given the relative dearth of literature on the subject. Lieven makes a compelling case for why we should pay more attention to what is one of the most important but least understood countries in the world.” 

“This book is about the best that has been published in recent times about Pakistan.” 

“A finely researched and forensic compendium. . . . A penetrating, textured study.” 

“Thanks to Mr. Lieven’s sound scholarship and perceptive insights in Pakistan: A Hard Country, readers will come away with a clearer understanding of why it is such a complex, conflicted country and why it will continue to be of vital interest to the United States long after the last American soldier has come home from Afghanistan.” 

“Lieven offers historical perspective and a coherent, nuanced picture of the strategic concerns, politics, and occasional paranoia underlying Pakistani actions. . . . The book covers a vast amount of ground and is packed with information, much of it fascinating and laden with significance for Washington policymakers.” 

“This insightful, comprehensive portrait of Pakistan is the perfect antidote to stereotypical descriptions of the country as the most dangerous place in the world. . . . Pakistan: A Hard Country has the power to dampen the paranoia about Pakistan’s security complex, put terrorism in perspective, and humanize Pakistanis.” 

“[Pakistan] is shot through with sharp insights and flashes of mordant wit that make it a pleasure to read.” 

“Anatol Lieven has written an excellent book. . . . It is perhaps the one book to read on Pakistan . . . and offers a level of nuance required for those wanting to become true specialists on the complexity of Pakistan’s political history.” 

“All in all, Lieven presents a subtle and nuanced picture of Pakistan that draws on deep scholarship and direct personal experience.” 

“Everybody nowadays seems to take a view on Pakistan. Very few know what they’re talking about. Anatol Lieven is that rare observer—a scholar who writes like the best kind of foreign correspondent about a country that he takes and measures on its own terms. Pakistan: A Hard Country offers an intimate and compellingly relevant portrait of an increasingly pivotal nation to the future of the world, for better or for worse. It fills a large gap in our understanding.” 

“A superb book about the complex but misunderstood reality of the world’s second largest Muslim nation from an author who explains lucidly and compellingly why this troubled state is also a resilient one. Few writers offer the insight and deep knowledge that Lieven has of a country critical for the West but one often caricatured by the media and rarely understood by Western policy makers. Lieven issues a timely warning to Western policy makers that their uneven understanding of Pakistan will produce flawed and self-defeating policies. He writes lucidly and in compelling detail about a much-misunderstood country that is troubled and yet tough and holds the key to securing key Western security goals.” 

“Lieven breaks down his study by specific region; considers the structures of justice, religion, the military and politics in turn; and, finally, in a skillful, insightful synthesis, addresses the history of and issues concerning the Taliban, both Pakistani and Afghani. A well-reasoned, welcome resource for Western ‘experts’ and lay readers alike.”