My Pakistan Reading List
I move to Islamabad on Wednesday to become The Telegraph’s Pakistan correspondent. Here is my current reading list:
- In the Line of Fire by Pervez Musharraf – currently still sitting in a warehouse somewhere, and I fear this won’t arrive in time
- A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif – novels tend to have a way of getting under the skin of a place that isn’t always possible in non-fiction. Started this last night
- Descent into Chaos by Ahmed Rashid – one of Pakistan’s top journalists gets two places on my list
- Taliban: Islam, Oil and the New Great Game in Central Asia by Ahmed Rashid – supposed to be one of the best books on the Taliban
- On the Road to Kandahar by Jason Burke – read this last year. Great introduction to the region
- Afghan Frontier by Victoria Schofield – long-time friend of Benazir Bhutto, who has written loads of books on the place
- Ghost Wars by Steve Coll – the inside story of 9/11 and the aftermath. Spooks galore
- Flashman in the Great Game by George Macdonald Fraser – I somehow suspect this will be the first one I read
Any other recommendations?