Reconciliation

Islam, Democracy, and the West

By: Benazir Bhutto

Narrated by: Rita Wolf

Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan in October 2007, after eight years of exile, hopeful that she could be a catalyst for change. Upon a tumultuous reception, she survived a suicide-bomb attack that killed nearly 200 of her countrymen. But she continued to forge ahead, with more courage and conviction than ever, since she knew that time was running out - for the future of her nation, and for her life. She was assassinated on December 27, 2007.

In Reconciliation, Bhutto recounts in gripping detail her final months in Pakistan and offers a bold new agenda for how to stem the tide of Islamic radicalism and to rediscover the values of tolerance and justice that lie at the heart of her religion. Bhutto persuasively argues that America and Britain are fueling a turn toward radicalization by supporting groups that serve only short-term interests. She believed that by enabling dictators, the West was actually contributing to the frustration and extremism that lead to terrorism.

With her experience governing Pakistan and living and studying in the West, Benazir Bhutto was versed in the complexities of the conflict from both sides. She was a renaissance woman who offered a way out.

In this riveting and deeply insightful book, Bhutto explores the complicated history between the Middle East and the West.

She speaks out not just to the West, but to the Muslims across the globe, who are at a crossroads between the past and the future, between education and ignorance, between peace and terrorism, and between dictatorship and democracy. Bhutto presents an image of modern Islam that defies the negative caricatures often seen in the West. After listening to this audiobook, it will become even clearer what the world has lost by her assassination.

Download the afterword, written by Bhutto's family.©2008 Benazir Bhutto (P)2008 HarperCollins Publishers