Songs of Blood and Sword
- Published: 1 June 2010
- ISBN: 9781409090823
- Imprint: Vintage Digital
- Format: EBook
- Pages: 512
A story with dazzling twists and turns told by a true-blue member of the Bhutto fold, with its family history of idealism, political betrayal, murder, hubris and paranaoia
Arifa Akbar, Independent
Clear and unpretentious prose...hope, injustice, drama and grief are all ably captured and conveyed in what is a highly readable introduction to the grim realities of domestic politics in Pakistan.
Roderick Matthews, Observer
Engrossing
James Urquhart, Financial Times
Fascinating
Eithne Farry, Marie Claire
Fatima Bhutto's angry and stylish memoir
William Dalrymple, Sunday Herald, Christmas round up
Her mesmerising book often has the feel of a detective inquiry into the events of a Jacobean tragedy in which a dynasty is inexorably eliminated... What might have been a poignant but limited exercise in filial piety is instead a multi-layered work, as remarkable for its adroit interweaving of the personal and the political as for its ambitious scope.
Guardian
It's a dramatic story that tells of feudal power and dynastic in-fighting, yet sums up the failings of Pakistani democracy, when one entitles family can so dominate its political landscape
Arifa Akbar, Independent
Powerful
Telegraph magazine
Readers of Fatima Bhutto's book can savour a uniquely fascinating, wonderfully well-constructed memoir from the heart of the most violent and Borgia-like of the South Asian dynasties. Witty, passionate and angry, it may not be objective history, but it is still the closest-focused political despatch yet written from Bhuttodom.
William Dalrymple, Financial Times
She is a compassionate and brave campaigner who ought to be heard
Sebastian Shakespeare, Tatler
Shedding private light on public life...The niece of the assassinated Benazir Bhutto, whom she accuses of orchestrating her father's murder, has written a chilling book about the feudal rivalries of Pakistan's ruling elite which helps explain the unholy political mess in that country.
Ruth Wishart, Herald, Christmas round up
The purpose of this painful biography is admirable and touching
Brenda Maddox, The Times