Songs of Blood and Sword: A Daughter's Memoir

Fatima Bhutto's memoir of her father is a very well written, riveting and commendable effort. Her descriptions of inter-personal interactions with her father leave no doubts as to how close their relationship was. She captures the momentum of changes in Pakistan and ties it well with Murtaza's life - by the end of which you can not help but root for her father. The author should also be commended on writing about events extremely personal and tragic - to an extent that most of us can't fathom. Her descriptions of the significant tragedies of her life are heart wrenching and give the reader a pause. There were times when I had to put down the book and distract myself - because I couldn't imagine these things happening with me and my father - it was impossible to place myself in Fatima's shoes. I am the same age as the author - and as she chronicles her journey and the events of Pakistan, I couldn't help but think just how different (and ordinary yet lucky ?) my life was compared to hers.The book served as a view into Pakistan for me. Being an Indian and from Mumbai, I had taken it personally to better understand this country - that at one time - was one with India and in its people, culture and customs - still shares my country's fiber and is yet for the last 6 decades an enemy that we are unable to reconcile with. I am glad to have read this book - for it now gives Pakistan a flesh and blood - realistic experiences to tie with - making it impossible to hate or be apathetic to.However, there are parts in which the book lacks - understandably so - mainly in criticism of Murtaza - at failing to see the futility of an armed struggle - or given his choice of embracing it - his failure to understand its implications upon his perception as a terrorist. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who would like to know more about Pakistan and about the Bhuttos - it serves in no small measure as a warning to the ability of power to corrupt and bring tragedies in the lives of those who seek it.- Sanket

"Pakistan is a colony" is what Balochistan politician Khair Bakhsh Marri tells Fatima Bhutto during a 2008 interview that is part of Fatima Bhutto's "Songs of Blood and Sword". Given the way the U.S. treats this 'sovereign' country one has to agree with this assessment.Fatima Bhutto's book is a very personal account of Pakistan's recent "post-colonial" history and the role the Bhutto clan played during that time. The book's focus are Ms. Bhutto's grandfather, Zulfikar Bhutto (murdered by General Zia-ul-Haq in 1977), her father, Murtaza Bhutto (killed by Pakistani police forces under mysterious circumstances in 1996), and her aunt, Benazir Bhutto, assassinated in December 2007. There are a couple of key regional hot-spots on this little earth that have the potential for triggering a much larger conflagration. Pakistan is such a place and I feel this book is a good way to learn more about this country that very few Americans know much about.I found Songs of Blood and Sword to be a good and engaging read. I feel that Ms Bhutto made an effort to look at her family history in an unbiased way. She praises her grandfather's early attempts at creating a tolerant, progressive society and is critical of his later descent into paranoia and authoritarianism.It is clear that Fatima Bhutto adored her father and mourns his untimely death. Her aunt, Benazir Bhutto's role in Pakistan's history is mostly negative. It seems clear that she was highly corrupt, as is her husband, the odious Asif Ali Zardari, current President of Pakistan. It is hard to understand how a woman like Benazir Bhutto can be formal head of state of Pakistan and not pass ANY laws that make life for poor women of that country more bearable.

An utterly spellbinding book, full of breathtaking facts and mindboggling anecdotes about Pakistan's sordid political culture. Written with great style and authenticity, Fatima Bhutto is a truly gifted author who unerringly documents the corrupt and vengeful leadership of her star-crossed country. And she does this with enormous thought and sensitivity.The book itself is one of those rare and priceless page-turners, capturing your interest from the very first page until the very last. The literary craftsmanship is extraordinary, carrying the reader perpetually astonished and engrossed though its contents.The author's emotional engagement in this captivating story has a bracing effect on the reader. I was both moved and inspired by her narrative. The evidence she presents implicating the current Pakistani president Asif Zardari and his deceased wife, the previous prime minister Benazir Bhutto, in the murder of the author's father, Mir Murtaza Bhutto, is convincingly delivered and speaks for itself.But for the great danger involved, I wish Fatima Bhutto would enter Pakistani politics and clean its Augean stables like her father had hoped to do before he died. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a great read.

I just finished this book, which is available cheaply second-hand on amazon. It isn't a very easy read, not because the author isn't a good writer (she is) but because the Bhutto family's history is so complicated.In generation after generation a Bhutto family member,though coming from a famous aristocratic and feudal family, has risen to the heights of political power, and then been assassinated.The author obviously is most proud of her father, who was Prime Minister at one time, until assassinated by Benazir and her husband, Zardari. Her father, Zulfikar, was the head of the "PPP" political party, the "People's Party of Pakistan", though it might have been named "The Socialist Party of Pakistan". Zulfikar was an enemy of America, and a pal of Arafat, Bashir and Gadaffi. Fatima studied in England and America, and speaks perfect Oxford English, and doesn't betray her own polical leanings.With all of the current news coming out of Pakistan, it only makes one glad to be American. (And I thought things HERE were bad!)

Fatima Bhutto has seemingly penned this down in a fearless, honest, thought - provoking, yet emotional attempt at gathering and preserving memories of her long lost broken and destroyed family. Her vulnerabilities expressed throughout this book are simply gut - wrenching, especially those as little Fati.Iv read books on Benazir Bhutto earlier on that only portray the current PPP in a positive light but this is the only book (that I have read) that reveals the other side of it all- not only from Fatima's perspective but also from the many initial PPP/Zulfikar Ali Bhutto loyalists whom she interviews, consequently showcasing how corrupt and evil the current PPP is. Based on her descriptions, I found Murtaza Bhutto to be very inspiring and I think Ghinwa Bhutto is such an amazing woman for being a good mother to Fati without having given birth to her. I loved Fatima's intensity throughout the book! Her writing and narrating skills are exceptional but I found many editing errors within the book although im pretty sure that the book that I received was not a fake copy!

Benazir Bhutto was assassinated at almost the same moment that my 57 year old brother, Ron, passed away from septicemia. I created a scenario where they met on the escalator to heaven and got along famously.This book is a fascinating if not sad look at this noble family written by the woman who took the responsibility to explain how such losses could have occurred. The sad parallel with the Kennedy assassinations and the "Camelot" context occurred to me.I personally revered Benazir Bhutto and mourned with the world when her life ended all too soon at the hands of madness.I saw Fatima interviewed briefly and her mother would have been very proud of her.

Heart wrenching multi-faceted account of a political family. Personal lives and politics in a politically unstable country are documented in a readable form that would hold a lay person's as well as an academic's interest. Bhutto does not get bogged down with politics in a way that would be difficult for those not interested in politics to glean the reason she has found it necessary to tell the world how brutal politics are in Pakistan. Bhutto's loving relationship with her father is touching and memorable as are numerous characters in her memoir.

An interesting though sad history of a family.Sentimental but factual statements.Fatima Bhutto is an amazing person with huge capability to write and express herslf.

An excellent historical record