The book is a colourful and absorbing one. It gives a detailed and interesting account of the life of Z. A Bhutto. It is a must read for anyone who wants a view into the life of the Bhutto's of Pakistan

In the beginning of this book Professor Wolpert writes aboout the two extreme opinions, he found, about Bhutto, everywhere he went in Pakistan. People either hated him or worshipped him, there was no other way about it. Wolpert says that in this book he has sought to reconcile the two Bhuttos or at least his two popular images. I don't think he quite succeeds. Though that does not mean he has failed either...it's just that Bhutto's was a schizoid personality. There were many Bhuttos, there was Bhutto the socialist, Bhutto the liberal but also the feudal Bhutto and the reactionary Bhutto. This is no bad book. Instead Mr Wolpert does manage to show us glimpses of all these Bhuttos but just glimpses...he never delves deeply into anyone of them. At times Wolpert is too severe on his subject, at other times, not severe enough. For instance one gets the feeling that he almost overlooks the responsibility Bhutto bore in the breakup of Pakistan. No matter how successful Wolpert really is in resolving all the contradictions and paradoxes within Bhutto's personality, I can attest that there was no want of effort. A must read for those interested in Post Partition Pakistani history. Never drab and always riveting!

Zulfi Bhutto is arguably the only interesting politician produced by his country, thus far. In a land known for its drab, faceless politicians who are just about as intriguing as a door knob ,ZAB was a whiff of fresh air_____and the crowds took to him in droves .Stanley Wolpert paints a remarkably life-like portrait of this gifted but tragically flawed former prime minister of Pakistan.To this day ZAB's mention stokes heated arguments across most segments of the political spectrum in his country____a man Pakistanis loved , as well as loved to hate .A strange admixture of Machiavelli , chairman Mao and Mussolini ___all rolled into one! A larger than life figure (by Pakistan's much diminished standards) he could be__ by turns__ charming , arrogant , vindictive ,compassionate,fascist and a democrat....a strange product of enlightened western education and dark atavistic-feudal forces.Wolpert traces Bhutto's life through his privileged childhood in pre-partition India onto his student years at UC Berkeeley and Oxford.His meteoric rise through Pakistan politics is ably narrated right upto the final denoument____his execution on cooked-up murder charges by the military junta that deposed him.This book is very well researched and draws upon extensive first hand interviews with Bhutto's friends & associates.It is peppered with interesting nuggets of information which would interest any student of Pakistan history.It is fairly "well-padded"Z.A Bhutto was a deeply divisive and polarising figure whose tragic end added a certain mystique to his legacy.This balanced ,objective but sympathetic account is a must read for Bhutto bashers as well as those who take a more kindly view of this complex figure.

This is the most authentic book i have ever read on the articulative personality of zulfikar ali bhutto shaheed.I congratulate Prof Stanley Wolpert for writting such a terrific book.

I totally disagree with the customer from Northern Ireland who gave this book a bad review. He must be a fantatic fundamentalist. Bhutto was possibly the greatest world leader of all times, period! The book gives some detail about his era, but better books are yet to come.

I try to see things in their entirety and not just a part of them. Usually the books authored by some one in close connections with the subject matter of the book are biased. But being a neutral man, I can declare with certainty that this is a collection of facts from 1967 - 1977. The caliber and the sense of imagination of "A reader from Northern Ireland" can be judged by the language he has used for Great Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto. It's the easiest thing in the world to criticize some one without proofs just for the sake of chatting, which is what most people with limited vision do. Bhutto was a world class-leader whose brilliance has been admired by various great leaders and diplomats of the world including but not limited to Henry kessinger, Richard Nixon, John F. Kennedy and Bhutto's worst enemy and traitor, General Zia. I am sure that " the reader from Northern Ireland" considers above-mentioned intellectuals and leaders, accept one of course, great personalities just because they are from a country who is ruling the world today. But, my friend let me recall the complement from Kennedy to comment on Bhutto's brilliance and talent. He said to Bhutto "If you had been an American, you would have been the president of the United States."

This book has been a great source of the information.

Thebook provides great details of history what happened and tries toanswer some insight of the succession of East Pakistan. Book alsoprovides some information on the issue of Pakistani politics. Bhutto,his life, his death and aftermath results of Pakistan Peoples Party. Book is written on an elementary level of English language and is easy to understand. Book is recommended for those who want to know BHUTTO....