Description
Freelance jopurnalist Nicholas Schmidle takes readers to Pakistan's rioting streets, to Taliban camps in the North-West Frontier Province, and on many surprising adventures as he provides a contemporary history of this country long riven by internal conflict. With the intimacy and good humor available only to the most fearless and open-eyed reporters, Schmidle narrates the most turbulent period of Pakistan's recent history, a time when President Pervez Musharraf lost his power and the Taliban found theirs, and when Americans began to realize that Pakistan's fate is inextricably linked with our own. Schmidle entered Pakistan in February 2006, befriended a radical cleric (who became an enemy of the state and was killed), came to crave the smell of tear gas(because it assured him that he was sufficiently close to the action), was deported by the Pakistani authorities, managed to get back into the country, and was chased out a second time.--From publisher description.
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"A fascinating account of [Schmidle's] years in Pakistan . . . The story of two Pakistans the author discovered: one beautiful and friendly, the other frightening and deadly."—BooklistNicholas Schmidle beat the Pakistani army into Taliban country. In October 2007, just weeks before thousands of troops, backed by helicopters and artillery fire, marched into the Swat valley to battle the gang of Talibs who had taken over the region, Schmidle rode into the town of Mingora on a public bus. He drove through Taliban-manned checkpoints and took a zipline into a militant camp. Schmidle had spent the previous two years traveling throughout Pakistan, living off a small fellowship which required only that he stay in the country, learn Urdu, and write about what he witnessed. Schmidle's telling of his gripping adventures, aided by his own deep knowledge of Pakistan's history, explains to readers the many reasons why Pakistan has grabbed the world's headlines. To Live or to Perish Forever is an eye-opening and exciting read about this essential place.
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