Goodbye Shahzadi: A biography of Benazir Bhutto

Few journalists are intimate witnesses to a career from political cradle to grave. Shyam Bhatia was on first name terms alongside Benazir every step of the way and his book is a revelation. A relationship that began among the dreaming spires of Oxford continued across the world from Pimlico to Pakistan. Along the way she told Bhatia things that she told no other journalist–history-making details that make this book a must read for anyone who is a serious student of the politics of West Asia and of the front line state that she led as the first woman prime minister of a Muslim country. We see unprecedented detail of one of the most significant deals of this or any other century–how North Korea gained access to the technology which gave it the capability to develop nuclear weaponry.  There are insights into Benazir’s relationships with the military and politicians in her own country, and what impact she had on their opposite numbers in India. This is Benazir as you have never seen her before–off guard, relaxed, open and honest. The woman who embraced both the sports car and the chador who might have done so much for her country.