Publications

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