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Average Customer Rating:

A must-read - real eye-opener for anyone interested in Pakistan & democracy

Customer Rating:

Having known very little about Pakistani politics although I knew some things about Benhazhir Bhutto & was used to people slagging her off, I was very very glad to read her own account of her life & the ongoing discrimination she faced as an Asian woman studying at Oxford University. She shows no self-pity & time & time again shows how she had to make her own way in the world despite discrimination & seemed to care deeply about the ongoing terrorism in the world. A very brave lady, she knew she may have to give up her life in the cause of democracy - as tragically she did - & I am personally sick to death of hearing privileged people she studied with @ Oxford slag her off. Asian women have the right to enjoy life just as much as white women. She was an intelligent lady & her murder was tragic. Highly recommended for the uninformed reader.

Loved It	Customer Rating:
What an amazing woman who led an amazing life. I couldn't put this book down and it gave me an absolute understanding of the political environment in Pakistan as well as an understanding of reasons for international terrorism and how we have reached this age of terror. Truly essential reading for our time - Benazir's messages must live on....

YOU NEED TO READ THIS

Customer Rating:

I wanted to learn more about Benizir Bhutto after her assasination and "Daughter of the East" just fell into my lap. Another reviewer has noted that the autobiography only focusses on a little part of Bhutto's life and political carreer - and I agree. However, I would like to promote "Daughter of the East" as mandatory reading for everyone. Chronological "Daughter of the East" covers Zia's period in Pakistan from the late 1970s to 1988, but that statement does not begin to encompass the dimensions of "Daughter of the East". "Daughter of the East" is a personal account of Benizir Bhutto and her youth, 20s, and 30s. It is about being the eldest daughter of the prime minister, it is about being a woman and politically active in a predominately Islamic country, it is about political oppression, about democracy, about faith, freedom, and hope for the future. It is about torture and imprisonment, about human rights for every individual, and about ethics and the means to an end. You really need to read this book. Louise.

A fascinating and inspiring woman, but this book is only about a small part of her life

Customer Rating:

You can't help reading this book and admiring Ms Bhutto, in many ways. Her charm and lovely nature shines through. Her life was incredibly difficult, and yet her positivity and warmth is present at all times. While reading the book, you can't help but feel the loss that her death was to this world. Unfortunately the book is focused on one part of her life, which is when she was imprisoned, rather than her life as a whole. It also focuses on the politics rather than the woman. I would be interested to hear more about her personal and family life, and her thoughts and feelings about the world in general. Instead it focuses on the suffering she endured in Pakistan in the 70s and 80s. While this is interesting, inspiring and educational (particularly if you're interested in Pakistan's situation as it is now), I wouldn't call it a comprehensive autobiography of Ms Bhutto.

New edition for different readers

Customer Rating:

This book is a real life account of struggle of a woman who fought with one of the worst despotic regimes in the world and she succeeded in this fight with the help of poor, barefoot, but determined, committed people of Pakistan. This success did not come easy but at the cost of the lives of her father, brother and thousands of her young party workers. Her upbringing of not less than of any princess and her account of later years in Sukkur jail makes one feel bad about the whole system of Pakistan. Where it has become a fashion for army generals to overthrow civilian governments after every ten years. Sometimes getting the elected Prime Ministers killed by judiciary and sometimes by exiling them. 2007 edition of this book has an additional chapter of 39 pages. This chapter really stands out from the book not because of anything new are amazing in it, but because this chapter is targeted to different readers from the rest of book's readers. To further simplify it, the first edition was for all those peace loving people of world who want the political culture of democracy to flourish in third world countries, whereas the last chapter is targeted to all those governments who somehow want to get rid of (so called, Islamic) extremists from muslim countries specially Afghanistan and Pakistan and can play any role in that. The last chapter has some very good observations about the short sightedness of some army generals in Pakistan specially Musharaf, who in the past thought it is easy to conquer Srinagar and did ventures like Kargil but now he believes it is better to demilitarise Kashmir. This book ends on the quote of Martin Luther King "Our lives begin to end the day we remain silent on things that matter". and With my faith in God, I put my fate in the hands of my people. No one can question her intelligence and her command on the issues of domestic and international politics but we have to wait and see whether she goes back to Pakistan and speak about the real issues of the poor people and whether the power brokers really put the fate of people of Pakistan in her hands the third time or not.