Pakistan: A Hard Country

Brilliant analysis of both the major terrorist and rebel groups that threaten Pakistan and of the forces lined up against themA timely and penetrating account of a huge, diverse country of immense importance to the UK, with its large British Pakistani communityWill be updated with the author's exclusive take on the impact of Osama Bin Laden's death in May 2011Anatol Lieven is Professor of International Relations and Terrorism Studies at King's College, London and a senior fellow of the New America Foundation in Washington DC. He was previously a journalist, who reported from South Asia, the former Soviet Union and eastern Europe for The Times (London) and other publications. His books include Chechnya: Tombstone of Russian Power (1998); America Right or Wrong: An Anatomy of American Nationalism (2004); and Ethical Realism: A Vision for America's Role in the World (with John Hulsman) (2006).

DAILY TELEGRAPH and INDEPENDENT BOOKS OF THE YEAR

LONGLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE 2012

2011 LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE FINALIST

In the wake of Pakistan's development of nuclear weapons, unpoliceable border areas, shelter of the Afghan Taliban and Bin Laden, and the spread of terrorist attacks by groups based in Pakistan to London, Bombay and New York, there is a clear need to look further than the simple image of a failed state so often portrayed in the media, and to see instead a country of immense complexity and importance.

Lieven's profound and sophisticated analysis paves the way for clearer understanding of this remarkable and highly contradictory country.

Superb ... 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 ... Timely and compellingThis is a wonderful book, full of learning, wisdom, humour and common senseOne cannot give Lieven enough credit ... The book seamlessly flows with historical analysis, anthropological investigation, and painstaking contextualisation ... It is both grand in its scholastic description and in its journalistic flairA finely researched blend of the nation's 64-year history ... Lieven's feat lies in his remarkable, flesh-and-blood portrait of the nation ... this nuanced analysis should be read, and learned fromBy far the most insightful survey of Pakistan I have read in recent years ... a vital book ... detailed and nuancedLieven captures the richness of the place wonderfully. His book has the virtues of both journalism and scholarshipAn important corrective to the monolithic view of Pakistan ... fresh and deeply informedA brilliantly articulated and researched argument ... Lieven is a wonderful writer. There are frequent moments of dark humour ... and descriptions that a novelist might envyEverybody nowadays seems to take a view on Pakistan. Very few know what they're talking about. Anatol Lieven is that rare observer ... Pakistan: A Hard Country ... fills a large gap in our understandingThe publication of Pakistan: A Hard Country could not be more timely ... illuminating as well as entertainingWith patience and determination, Lieven observes and records all aspects of the curiosity otherwise known as Pakistan ... A sweeping and insightful narrative