The period in South Asian history best documented by important actors is 1970s Pakistan, the most important decade in that nation’s history. The division of the country, Z A Bhutto’s rise and then Zia’s takeover: all these are laid out superbly by writers like Iqbal Akhund, Rafi Raza, Mubashir Hasan, Gen K M Arif and Bhutto himself through their autobiographies. The books I wish we had available to us in 2018 would be the memoirs of Sonia Gandhi, Narendra Modi and Manmohan Singh. The last decade has been tumultuous and vital. Its major actors know much about this period that

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