This task was made immeasurably more difficult by the writings of Samuel P.

But this should not obscure the fact that she was the only prominent Pakistani politician, and one of the few leaders of the Islamic world, willing to take on the radicals at both the political and intellectual levels. As other reviews have noted, the writing is not stylistically coherent (the book was rushed into print after her murder, and it seems in places to be assembled, rather than written). The account owes much to scholars like Fazlur Rahman (on Islam) and Ian Talbot (on Pakistan). Benazir can be faulted on these grounds, but by and large she offers a straightforward discussion of the rise of contemporary radicalism in Islam, prefaced by a useful depiction of how the Islamic world was, at one time, at the centre of modern thinking about science, gender and governance. Others have dived into these waters, and there are more scholarly accounts of the struggle within Islam and Pakistan’s troubled past. As she rightly points out, Pakistan is one of those places where both struggles are central to the identity of both state and nation, and one full chapter and many asides are devoted to contemporary Pakistani history and politics.

Reconciliation, a substantial book but an easy read, deals with two grand themes: the struggle within the Islamic world for an identity that is compatible with its own great traditions and objective changes in the world today, and the difficulty of the West in understanding and, where necessary, accommodating the process. Her strategy, of course, was to take this half-way step and use it to leverage a transformation of Pakistani politics, working even with Nawaz Sharif. BB had matured over the years, and towards the end of her life became quite the realist, willing to forgive even the bumbling Bush administration for its tragic delay in looking for a way to prop up the general. Yet, those who trashed her after her death - when she could not reply - were wrong in their caricature. She was, of course, very self-centred, and believed in her own destiny - never quite getting over the princess syndrome. Unlike most of Pakistan’s oligarchic establishment, Benazir was more interested in issues and problems than personality and self. Finally, she left this book - a reminder of her wide-ranging interests - as a final statement of what Pakistani politicians should be worried about. She not only outmanoeuvred President Musharraf, whose days as nominal leader of this sad country are numbered, but managed to keep her party together after her own cruel death, by the improbable device of naming her son and husband as heirs in a hastily written will.

If there is a heaven, then Benazir Bhutto, who was in life one of the world’s most serious politicians, may have allowed herself a smile after the returns from Pakistan’s second free election came in.

Reconciliation by Benazir Bhutto