Pakistan: The Taliban, Al Qaeda, and the Rise of Terrorism. By William J. Topich. Praeger Security International. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2018. 217 pages. Acid-free $75 (ISBN 978-1-4408-3760-9). Ebook Available (978-1-4408-3761-6), call for pricing.

One might be tempted to add this title to their collection as a much needed update on two important topics of scholarship—Pakistan and terrorism. However, the book falls short in its attempt to document “Pakistan’s troubled history” (promotional flyer).

As a tertiary source, one would expect a factual approach to the material, but charged language abounds. For instance, in the introductory paragraph alone the author mentions “Pakistani paranoia” and the “artificial nature of the country” (vii). There are also both factual and editorial errors with examples of both appearing on the first page. The author states that Pakistan is “the world’s fifth largest and populous country” which is true in terms of the population but certainly not in terms of geography. On the editorial side, a sentence reads “the future of Pakistan hinders on the ability of the fragile government structure to control and ultimately eradicate the terrorist threat within its borders.” On its face, the structure of the book is fairly straightforward, relying primarily on chronology. However, chapters are not introduced clearly and end abruptly with no overall conclusion. The writing is also confusing. This title is part of the Praeger Security International series. The series description includes the claim that its titles are “written by subject experts and well-known researchers” (https://www.abc-clio.com/ABC-CLIOCorporate/product.aspx?pc=A4747C). Author William J. Topich earned an M.A. in an unspecified discipline and is the US Social Science chair and teacher at a preparatory school. He developed an interest in Pakistan during a trip he took in 2010.

For an up-to-date (in terms of reference sources) and expert overview of Pakistan, the Europa World Year Book (Routledge, published annually) provides an excellent treatment that includes information about terrorism complete with robust and necessary context. CountryWatch profiles provide more in-depth information for those who subscribe to the database. Finally, the Historical Dictionary of Pakistan (Rowan and Littlefield, 2015), while not as current, is an also excellent reference work. Pakistan: The Taliban, Al Qaeda, and the Rise of Terrorism is not recommended.—Anne C. Deutsch, Instruction Program Coordinator, Sojourner Truth Library, State University of New York at New Paltz, New Paltz, New York