Book Reviews
Refugee Cities: How Afghans Changed Urban Pakistan
by Dr Sanaa Alimia
University of Pennsylvania Press 2022, 248pp
Reviewed by: Dr Sobia Kaker
27 October 2023
Seeking Supremacy: The Pursuit of Judicial Power in Pakistan
by Dr Yasser Kureshi
Cambridge University Press 2022, 280pp
Reviewed by: Professor Martin Lau
13 October 2023
Access to Power: Electricity and the Infrastructural State in Pakistan
Dr Ijlal Naqvi
Oxford University Press 2022, 192pp
Reviewed by: Dr Juvaria Jafri, University of East Anglia
15 September 2023
Making a Muslim: Reading Publics and Contesting Identities in Nineteenth-Century
by Prof Akbar Zaidi
Cambridge University Press 2021, 249pp
Reviewed by: Dr Megan Robb, University of Pennsylvania
8 September 2023
Defending Muhammad in Modernity
by Dr SherAli Tareen
Notre Dame Press 2020, 506pp
Reviewed by: Dr Nauman Faizi, LUMS
21 July 2023
A Broken Record: Institutions, Community and Development in Pakistan
by Dr Atiyab Sultan
Cambridge University Press 2022, 229pp
Reviewed by: Professor Imran Ali
7 July 2023
The Colonial and National Formations of the National College of Arts, Lahore, circa 1870s to 1960s
by Dr Nadeem Omar Tarar
Anthem Press 2022, 250pp
Reviewed by: Dr Samina Iqbal, Lahore School of Economics
30 June 2023
Insecure Guardians: Enforcement, Encounters and Everyday Policing in Postcolonial Karachi
by Dr Zoha Waseem
Hurst Publishers 2022, 328pp
Reviewed by: Prof Laurent Gayer, CERI-Sciences Po
9 June 2023
Pakistan’s Wars: An Alternative History by Prof Tariq Rahman
Routledge 2022, 364pp
Reviewed by: Dr Farooq Bajwa, PhD (LSE)
2 June 2023
Marginalisation, Contestation and Change in South Asia
edited by Dr Nida Kirmani
Oxford University Press 2022, 224pp
Reviewed by: Ms Fizzah Sajjad, PhD Candidate (LSE)
26 May 2023
Revenge, Politics and Blasphemy in Pakistan
by Dr Adeel Hussain
Hurst Publishers 2022, 242pp
Reviewed by: Dr Sana Ashraf, PhD (ANU)
12 May 2023
Patchwork States: The Historical Roots of Subnational Conflict and Competition in South Asia
by Dr Adnan Naseemullah
Cambridge University Press 2022, 309pp
Reviewed by: Prof Yunas Samad, LUMS
5 May 2023
Stories with Oil Stains – The World of Women ‘Digest’ Writers in Pakistan
by Dr Kiran Nazir Ahmed
Oxford University Press 2020, 232pp
Reviewed by: Dr Zainab Latif, PhD (CUNY)
28 April 2023
Love, War & Other Longings: Essays on Cinema in Pakistan
Edited by Prof Vazira Zamindar and Dr Asad Ali
Oxford University Press 2020, 274pp
Reviewed by: Dr Samhita Sunya, University of Virginia
31 March 2023
In Search of Lost Glory: Sindhi Nationalism in Pakistan
by Dr Asma Faiz
Oxford University Press and Hurst Publishers 2021, 277pp
Reviewed by: Prof Matthew A. Cook, North Carolina Central University
17 March 2023
Courting Constitutionalism: Politics of Public Law and Judicial Review in Pakistan
by Dr Moeen Cheema
Cambridge University Press 2022, 251pp
Reviewed by: Dr Yasser Kureshi, University of Oxford
4 November 2022
Cricket in Pakistan: Nation, Identity, and Politics
by Dr Ali Khan
Oxford University Press 2022, 306pp
Reviewed by: Prof Mohammad Waseem, LUMS
28 October 2022
Property Taxes and State Incapacity in Pakistan
by Dr M Mujtaba Piracha
Oxford University Press 2021, 246pp
Reviewed by: Dr Ali Cheema, LUMS
24 June 2022
We are Lovers of the Qalandar: Piety, Pilgrimage, and Ritual in Pakistani Sufi Islam
by Prof Islam Jürgen Wasim Frembgen
Oxford University Press 2021, 192pp
Reviewed by: Dr Amen Jaffer, LUMS
29 April 2022
Sovereign Attachments: Masculinity, Muslimness and Affective Politics in Pakistan
by Dr Shenila Khoja-Moolji
University of California Press 2021, 288pp
Reviewed by: Dr Tania Saeed
15 April 2022
Finding the Enemy Within: Blasphemy Accusations and Subsequent Violence in Pakistan
by Dr Sana Ashraf
Australian National Press 2021, 270pp
Reviewed by: Prof Farhat Haq
1 April 2022
The Punjab Borderland: Mobility, Materiality and Militancy, 1947-1987
by Dr Ilyas Chattha
Cambridge University Press 2022, 313pp
Reviewed by: Dr Salman Khan
4 March 2022
The Cambridge Companion to Sayyid Ahmad Khan
Edited by Prof Yasmin Saikia and Dr M. Raisur Rahman
Cambridge University Press 2019, 292pp
Reviewed by: Prof S. Akbar Zaidi
18 February 2022
The Loss of Hindustan: The Invention of India
by Dr Manan Ahmed Asif
Harvard University Press 2021, 336pp
Reviewed by: Dr Zahra Shah
14 January 2022
Youth and the National Narrative: Education, Terrorism and the Security State in Pakistan
by Prof Marie Lall and Dr Tania Saeed
Bloomsbury Publishing 2019, 224pp
Reviewed by: Prof Naureen Durrani
5 November 2021
Siren Songs: Understanding Pakistan Through Its Women Singers
by Prof Fawzia Afzal-Khan
Oxford University Press 2020, 252pp
Reviewed by: Prof Neelam Hussain, SOAS
22 October 2021
The Parliament of Pakistan: A History of Institution-Building and (Un)Democratic Practices, 1971-1977
by Prof Mahboob Hussain
Oxford University Press 2020, 332pp
Reviewed by: Prof Philip E. Jones
8 October 2021
India’s Revolutionary Inheritance: Politics and the Promise of Bhagat Singh
by Dr Chris Moffat
Cambridge University Press 2019, 292pp
Reviewed by: Dr Ali Raza
24 September 2021
Countering Violent Extremism in Pakistan: Local Actions, Local Voices
by Prof Anita M. Weiss
Oxford University Press 2021, 312pp
Reviewed by: Dr Umber Bin Ibad
10 September 2021
A Leadership Odyssey:
Muslim Separatism and the Achievement of the Separate State of Pakistan
by Prof Sikandar Hayat
Oxford University Press 2021, 327pp
Reviewed by: Prof Tariq Rahman
27 August 2021
Islam in Pakistan: A History
by Prof Muhammad Qasim Zaman
Princeton University Press 2018, 432pp
Reviewed by: Dr Syed Rizwan Zamir
30 July 2021
Contested Waters: Sub-national Scale Water and Conflict in Pakistan
by Prof Daanish Mustafa
I.B. Tauris 2021, 128pp
Reviewed by: Dr Matt Birkinshaw
2 July 2021
Book Review Article: Crafty Oligarchs, Savvy Voters: Democracy under Inequality in Rural Pakistan
by Dr Shandana Mohmand
Cambridge University Press 2019, 298pp
Review Article by Dr Adeel Malik
25 June 2021
Sino-Pakistani Relations: Politics, Military and Regional Dynamics
by Dr Filippo Boni
Routledge 2020, 186pp
Reviewed by: Dr Najam Abbas
28 May 2021
The History of British Diplomacy in Pakistan
by Prof Ian Talbot
Routledge 2021, 245pp
Reviewed by: Dr David Taylor, Chair Bloomsbury Pakistan & Professor Emeritus, AKU
14 May 2021
Dying to Serve: Militarism, Affect, and the Politics of Sacrifice in the Pakistan Army
by Dr Maria Rashid
Stanford University Press 2020, 267pp
Reviewed by: Dr Rubina Saigol
7 May 2021
The ‘Ulama in Contemporary Pakistan: Contesting and Cultivating an Islamic Republic
by Dr Mashal Saif
Cambridge University Press 2020, 332pp
Reviewed by: Dr Simon W. Fuchs
23 April 2021
Revolutionary Pasts: Communist Internationalism in Colonial India
by Dr Ali Raza
Cambridge University Press 2020, 280pp
Reviewed by: Dr Aasim Sajjad Akhtar
9 April 2021
The Economy of Modern Sindh: Opportunities Lost and Lessons for the Future
by Ishrat Husain, Aijaz A. Qureshi, Nadeem Hussain
Oxford University Press 2019, 496pp
Reviewed by: Dr Mujtaba Isani
5 March 2021
The Ethics of Staying: Social Movements and Land Rights Politics in Pakistan
by Dr Mubbashir Rizvi
Stanford University Press 2019, 224pp
Reviewed by: Aisha Ahmad
29 January 2021
Pakistan’s Political Parties: Surviving Between Dictatorship and Democracy
Edited by Dr Mariam Mufti, Dr Sahar Shafqat, Dr Niloufer Siddiqui
Georgetown University Press 2020 (Folio Books in Pakistan), 321pp
Reviewed by: Dr Umair Javed
22 January 2021
Print and the Urdu Public: Muslims, Newspapers, and Urban Life in Colonial India
by Dr Megan E. Robb
Oxford University Press 2020, 247pp
Reviewed by: Prof Tariq Rahman
11 December 2020
Political Kinship in Pakistan: Descent, Marriage, and Government Stability
by Prof Stephen M. Lyon
Lexington Books 2019, 137pp
Reviewed by: Dr Nichola Khan
16 October 2020
Big Capital in an Unequal World: The Micropolitics of Wealth in Pakistan
by Dr Rosita Armytage
Berghahn Books 2020, 206pp
Reviewed by: Dr Ali Khan
1 May 2020
In a Pure Muslim Land: Shiʿism between Pakistan and the Middle East
by Dr Simon W. Fuchs
The University of North Carolina Press 2019, 352pp
Reviewed by: Dr Karen Ruffle
20 March 2020
1971: A People’s History from Bangladesh, Pakistan and India
by Anam Zakaria
Penguin Random House 2019, 393pp
Reviewed by: Prof Tariq Rahman
21 February 2020
Place and Postcolonial Ecofeminism: Pakistani Women’s Literary and Cinematic Fictions
by Prof Shazia Rahman
University of Nebraska Press 2019, 226pp
Reviewed by: Prof Cara Cilano, Michigan State University
7 February 2020
In the Wake of Disaster: Islamists, the State and a Social Contract in Pakistan
by Dr Ayesha Siddiqi
Cambridge University Press 2019, 186pp
Reviewed by: Dr Majed Akhter, King’s College London
24 January 2020
Delusional States: Feeling Rule and Development in Pakistan’s Northern Frontier
by Dr Nosheen Ali
Cambridge University Press 2019, 304pp
Reviewed by: Prof Charles Lindholm, Boston University
10 January 2020
The State During the British Raj: Imperial Governance in South Asia 1700-1947
by Dr Ilhan Niaz
Oxford University Press (OUP) Pakistan 2019, 312pp
Reviewed by: Prof Ian Talbot, University of Southampton
3 January 2020
Colonialism and Knowledge in Grierson’s Linguistic Survey of India (Vol I)
Nation and Region in Grierson’s Linguistic Survey of India (Vol II)
Routledge 2019
by Prof Javed Majeed
Reviewed by: Prof Tariq Rahman
1 November 2019
Sufi Shrines and the Pakistani State: The End of Religious Pluralism
by Dr Umber Bin Ibad
I.B. Tauris 2018, 245pp
Reviewed by: Bishop Dr Michael Nazir-Ali
18 October 2019
Sharia and the State in Pakistan: Blasphemy Politics
by Prof Farhat Haq
Routledge 2019, 192pp
Reviewed by: Dr Amber Darr, University College London
11 October 2019
Growth and Inequality in Pakistan: Agenda for Reforms
by Dr Hafiz Pasha
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung 2019, 550pp
Reviewed by: Prof Ehsan Choudhri, Carleton University
19 September 2019
New Perspectives on Pakistan’s Political Economy: State, Class and Social Change
Edited by Dr Matthew McCartney and Dr Akbar Zaidi
Cambridge University Press 2019, 275pp
Reviewed by: Prof Stephen Lyon, Aga Khan University, UK
8 August 2019
The Women’s Movement in Pakistan: Activism, Islam and Democracy
by Dr Ayesha Khan
I.B Tauris 2018, 398pp
Reviewed by: Dr Maria Rashid, PhD (SOAS London University)
23 July 2019
Patient Pakistan: Reforming and Fixing Health Care
by Dr Arif Azad
Iqbal International Institute (IIIRD), 2018, 190pp
Reviewed by: Dr Ayaz Qureshi, University of Edinburgh
22 June 2019
The Politics of Common Sense: State, Society and Culture in Pakistan
by Dr Aasim Sajjad Akhtar
Cambridge University Press 2018, 200pp
Reviewed by: Dr Nicolas Martin, Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies, University of Zurich
8 March 2019
Interpretations of Jihad in South Asia: An Intellectual History
by Prof Tariq Rahman
De Gruyter 2018, 315pp
Reviewed by: Prof Francis Robinson, Royal Holloway University of London
27 February 2019
Media Imperialism in Pakistan and India
by Dr Farooq Sulehria
Routledge 2018, 258pp
Reviewed by: Asif Akhtar, New York University
20 September 2018
Secession and Security: Explaining State Strategy against Separatists
by Dr Ahsan Butt
Cornell University Press 2017, 293pp
Reviewed by: Prof Yunas Samad, LUMS and Bradford University
29 August 2018
AIDS in Pakistan: Bureaucracy, Public Goods and NGOs
by Dr Ayaz Qureshi
Palgrave Macmillan 2018, 232pp
Reviewed by: Dr Nichola Khan, University of Brighton
10 April 2018
Hybrid Tapestries: The Development of Pakistani Literature in English
by Muneeza Shamsie
Oxford University Press (OUP) Pakistan 2017, 676pp
Reviewed by: Prof. Cara Cilano, Michigan State University
6 December 2017
The Army and Democracy: Military Politics in Pakistan
by Dr Aqil Shah
Harvard University Press 2014, 416pp
Reviewed by: Prof. Tariq Rahman
12 October 2017
The Pathan Unarmed: Opposition and Memory in the North West Frontier
by Dr Mukulika Banerjee
Oxford University Press 2001, 238pp
Reviewed by: Prof. Charles Lindholm, Boston University
20 January 2017
Secularising Islamists?: Jama’at-e-Islami and Jama’at-ud-Da’wa in Urban Pakistan
by Dr Humeira Iqtidar
University of Chicago Press 2011, 232pp
Reviewed by: Prof. Asad Ahmed, Harvard University
Articles and Reports
(i) Pakistan’s Government Debt and IMF Negotiations (ii) Causes of Inflation in Pakistan
(iii) Rupee Exchange Rate Management (iv) Pakistan’s Current Account in a Cross Country Perspective
(v) Pakistan’s Twin Deficit and IMF Fiscal Conditionality (vi) IMF Bailout for Pakistan: Policy Options
(vii) Pakistan’s Official Narrative: Causes and Consequences
Book Review – Sovereign Debt: A Guide for Economists and Practitioners
Nadir Cheema, Senior Research Fellow, Bloomsbury Pakistan
A New Perspective on Pakistan’s Perception in the World.
Article based on interview with Dr Farzana Shaikh,
Senior South Asia Fellow at Chatham House.
Causes of Jihadi Militancy in FATA and Swat areas of Pakistan
Pashto translation of the report
Discussion with Dr Asad Sayeed, Senior Researcher, Collective for Social Science Research.
Report on Social Change in Pakistan, discussion with Arif Hasan
Sindhi translation of the report
Mr Arif Hasan is a member Advisory Board of Bloomsbury Pakistan.
