To Live or to Perish Forever: Two Tumultuous Years In Pakistan

by Schmidle, Nicholas

First edition.

Average customer rating: (1 review)
[Read reviews] [Add your own review or rate this book]

Price: $16.50
Shipping rates & speeds | 30 Day Return Guarantee Ask bookseller a question | Review this book | E-mail to a friend

Book description: Henry Holt and Co., 2009. Hardcover with dust jacket. First edition. AS NEW with a bump to one tip and a small tear at the tip of the dj. 272 pages; b&w photos sprinkled throughout, maps; 6.5 x 9.5 inches. Publisher's press release laid in. In To Live or to Perish Forever, Schmidle takes readers to Pakistan's rioting streets, to Taliban camps in the North-West Frontier Province, and on surprising adventures as he provides a contemporary history of this country long riven by internal conflict, a place dubbed "the most dangerous country in the world." Schmidle narrates what is arguably the most turbulent period of Pakistan's recent history, a time when Americans began to realize that Pakistan's fate is inextricably linked with our own. FREE SHIPPING within the US by Media Mail. Careful and secure packaging.

Bookseller Terms of Sale

All items are subject to prior sale. Please e-mail us to hold a book or books. Methods of payment: personal check, money order, and major credit cards. New Jersey residents must add 7% sales tax. For payments by check or money order, we will place items on hold for 7 days pending receipt of payment. Items will be shipped immediately upon clearance of funds. We take special care in the packaging and shipping of our books; they are guaranteed to be in the condition stated or a replacement or refund will be offered. Books also may be returned within 7 days of receipt with advance notice. The book(s) must be returned in the same condition as shipped by the seller. Shipping will not be refunded unless we were at fault. Shipping is free for Media Mail and includes tracking. Orders of $50 or more are automatically insured at our expense. Shipping for priority is extra. Quotes for expedited delivery available on request. We are always interested in buying collections as well as individual items. Please contact us.

Customer Reviews

  "As a young journalist trying to establish his bona fides Schmidle chose to live in Pakistan for two years. He learned the native language and immersed himself in its culture. He describes the people, places, and events that he experienced in lyrical, almost poetical language. Despite the difficulty in following the unfamiliar Pakistani names of people, organizations, and cities, Schmidle takes the reader into the dynamics of life in this amazing country. Schmidle spent time visiting the hinterlands of Pakistan where factional groups are fighting each other, where tribal structure pits regions against each other and against the central government of the country, where antiAmerican sentiments dominate, and where Islamic extremism is persuasive to the people. He visited madrassas where young boys and girls are instructed and indoctrinatedin the Islamic faith; he became a confident of some we might consider terrorists; he talked with and witnessed the activities of Talabon fighters. While Schmidle makes great effort to be impartial in his reporting, he paints a picture of the Muscharef government, an ally of the United States, as a repressive regime that terrorized the people of Pakistan to hold onto power. Schmidle shows how ordinary Pakistanis view the Talibon as heroes who bring order and stability into ungoverned and lawless regions, but how their extremist religious views and cruel punishment of those who oppose them often turn the populace against them. TO LIVE OR TO PERISH will give you a different insight Pakistan and Afghanistan that will help you to make more informed judgment about American intervention in Afghanistan, how the people of the region perceive the world and particularly the West, and what we can expect from our efforts to bring democracy to those countries. It is a must-read for those who don't want to take for granted the standard media picture of American intervention in the Middle East, but rather want to make their own decisions about how we can best protect ourselves against the threat of global terrorism. "