The Most Dangerous Place

Oct 7, 2024 6:24 AM

Author:Imtiaz Gul

The tribal region located on the frontier between Pakistan and Afghanistan is the centre of terrorist activity in the world today. Since 2001, Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters have regrouped here, using its mountainous terrain as a safe haven in which to train, plan major terror attacks, send insurgents to Afghanistan, and recruit ever-younger fighters.

In this essential book Imtiaz Gul follows the trail of militancy to show how a fatal mix of ultra-conservatism, economic under-development and an absence of law and order have radicalized a region and its people, with grave consequences for the stability of Pakistan.

Using a wealth of local knowledge, and interviews with officials, militant leaders and followers, this is the definitive account of the place that poses an international security risk unlike any other.

Reviews

'The funniest book I have read for two and a half years'

—— Arthur Smith

'The whingeing memoirs of a snivelling leftie. The man should be shot'

—— Jack Dee

'Very funny'

—— Mail on Sunday

'Excellent...Whatever your politics Things Can Only Get Better will make you laugh out loud'

—— Angus Deayton

'Very funny and much better than anything he ever wrote for me'

—— Griff Rhys Jones

Intelligent and hugely enjoyable... It is a serious inquiry into why conspiracy theories appeal, and aaronovitch's theories are consistently reasonable, persuasive and humane

—— Sunday Times

Terrifying, hilarious, irreverent and addictively compelling... An instant classic

—— Simon Sebag-Montefiore

Brilliant, sparkling and witty

—— Ian Kershaw

A rich and fascinating account.... His unravelling of the theories is a model of common sense and responsible reasoning

—— AC Grayling , The Times

Anyone who has toyed with suspicion over the accidental nature of Princess Diana's death, or the self-inflicted nature of David Kelly's, will have that flirtation brutally curtailed by Aaronovitch's caustic rationality

—— Observer

A useful book about an important subject

—— Giles Foden , Guardian

With dark wit and extraordinary patience he lays bare the psychology of conspiracism

—— Nick Cohen

Voodoo Histories is as concerned with understanding conspiracies as it is with rebutting them, and Aaronovitch's tone throughout is that of the sage psychologist, his method that of the forensic historian

—— New Statesman

Fascinating

—— Lesley McDowell , Independent on Sunday

Admirably diligent

—— Rafael Behr , Observer

He is articulate, well-versed and a good writer; it's worth reading this whether you agree with him or not.

—— William Leith , Evening Standard

Fascinating account of the major conspiracy theories of the past 100 years

—— Lesley McDowell , Independent on Sunday

Aaronovitch aims to do more than expose popular nonsense

—— Rafael Behr , Observer

Forensically intelligent and hugely enjoyable study of modern conspiracy theories...consistently reasonable, persuasive and humane

—— Christopher Hart , Sunday Times

Solid, well-researched and unexpectedly gripping

—— Christopher Hirst , Independent

[Aaronovitch] is, broadly speaking, an enemy of conspiracy theories. He is also articulate, well versed in the facts and a good writer

—— William Leith , Scotsman

Aaronovitch painstakingly dissects these and some of the other great conspiracy theories of the age and demonstrates with merciless clarity what utter tripe they are.

—— Mail on Sunday

A serious, entertaining and shocking investigation into the stuff that conspiracy theories are made of. Aaronovitch guides us through the half-truths and speculation and examines the distrust of officialdom which fuels conspiracists' imagination.

—— Independent on Sunday

In its many-layered discoveries, the book is truly magnetic

—— Jane Knight , The Times

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