It's not often that one needs to begin writing a book review appreciating the sheer pluck, determination and courage required on an author's part, but such is the effect of Alice Albinia's detailed reportage from one of the most violent regions on Earth — the swath of land bounded by India, Afghanistan, Pakistan and China. Empires of the Indus is proof of the mess that democracies and dictatorships alike make of our planet and its people, in pursuit of development. Indus, the once untamed ri... (show more)

It's not often that one needs to begin writing a book review appreciating the sheer pluck, determination and courage required on an author's part, but such is the effect of Alice Albinia's detailed reportage from one of the most violent regions on Earth — the swath of land bounded by India, Afghanistan, Pakistan and China. Empires of the Indus is proof of the mess that democracies and dictatorships alike make of our planet and its people, in pursuit of development. Indus, the once untamed river, which gives its name to a country, an ocean and a people, has had its back broken by India, China and Pakistan all of whom seem to think that the best part of having a river flowing through one’s backyard is putting a dam or two or three across it. Illegally crossing international borders when she needs to, Albinia spans the region both physically and across time in a masterful effort to make sense of the why’s and how’s of sub-continental reality. Totally objective yet judgmental, her personal moral compass keeps pointing her in the right direction as she asks a whole ton of questions and uncovers the inherent humanity and heartlessness that characterizes us all. Read it. (show less)