Songs of Blood and Sword, By Fatima Bhutto

Reviewed,Arifa Akbar
Thursday 24 March 2011 21:00 EDT
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This "daughter's memoir" gives us further insight into the Bhuttos, and often reads like pulpy overspill from the news pages that have, ever since (Fatima's grandfather and Pakistani PM) Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's hanging in 1979, catalogued the assassinations, betrayals and corruption scandals in the family's stable.

This Bhutto focuses on one murder in particular: her father Murtaza's, who was shot in the head by police in 1996. Much of the blame is laid at the feet of another assassinated PM, Benazir, or aunt Pinky as she was once known to Fatima.

It's a dramatic story that tells of feudal power and dynastic in-fighting, yet sums up the failings of Pakistani democracy, when one entitled family can so dominate its political landscape.

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