Pakistan’s history since independence is…complicated. Partition wrecked the economy, leaving all the economic infrastructure in India. Democracy was weak, as the military launched multiple coups to overthrow the civilian government. The country was split into an unsustainable two halves–with one declaring independence as Bangladesh by the Seventies.

Professor Tahir Kamran covers Pakistan’s history–starting in pre-history and traveling all the way to the present day–in his book Chequered Past, Uncertain Future: The History of Pakistan (Reaktion, 2024)

Tahir Kamran is Head of the Department of the Liberal Arts at Beaconhouse National University, Lahore, Director of the Khaldunia Centre for Historical Research and the editor of the Pakistan Journal of Historical Studies. His books include Colonial Lahore: A History of the City and Beyond (Oxford University Press: 2017).

You can find more reviews, excerpts, interviews, and essays at The Asian Review of Books, including its review of Chequered Past, Uncertain Future. Follow on Twitter at @BookReviewsAsia.

Nicholas Gordon is an editor for a global magazine, and a reviewer for the Asian Review of Books. He can be found on Twitter at @nickrigordon.

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