Tariq Ali Summary

In the following review, Addy credits Ali for his overview of the geopolitics of India in Can Pakistan Survive?, but faults him for not going beyond the “commonly held perceptions of the Left&#... Read more

In the following excerpt, Evans praises certain portions of Revolution from Above, but faults others, asserting that the book ignores many complexities of the Soviet political arena. [Revolution fr... Read more

In the following review, Ahmed provides an overview of Ali's life and career, tracing his development as an author through Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree. A review of Tariq Ali's new... Read more

In the following review, Crawley outlines Ali's major thematic concerns in Can Pakistan Survive? Theorists of the left have been few in number in Pakistan and very limited in their influence... Read more

In the following excerpt, Hitchens contends that Ali provides a vivid portrayal of the 1960s world climate in 1968: Marching in the Streets. I was just beginning to write about 1968 when I learned ... Read more

In the following review, Kellaway discusses the tone and pacing of Ugly Rumours. There is a madwoman in the cellar of No 10 Downing Street. Her name is Margaret Thatcher. Her triple-stringed pearls... Read more

In the following review, King offers a negative assessment of Fear of Mirrors, calling the work confusing, poorly written, and clichéd. Fear of Mirrors belongs to a literary subgenre that ha... Read more

In the following review, Raine discusses the collaboration between Ali, Howard Brenton, and Andy de la Tour and the resulting play Snogging Ken. Somewhere in Highgate, north London, three men are s... Read more

In the following review, Murray provides a favorable assessment of Ali's introduction to Who's Afraid of Margaret Thatcher? This short book [Who's Afraid of Margaret Thatcher?]... Read more

In the following review, Huggler explores the major thematic concerns of The Stone Woman. No country in the Islamic world has embraced the West as eagerly as Turkey has, which makes it an intriguin... Read more

In the following review, King pans The Stone Woman, contending that Ali is not a “natural novelist” and that he lacks the ability to realistically tell a story. The Stone Woman is the... Read more

In the following review, Hume compares and contrasts The Clash of Fundamentalisms with Gilles Kepel's Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam. Like some dreadful progressive rock album of the 19... Read more

In the following review, Arnove offers a generally positive assessment of The Clash of Fundamentalisms, but argues that the work would have been stronger if Ali had proposed alternatives to modern Isl... Read more

In the following review, Ahmed criticizes Can Pakistan Survive?, calling the work simplistic, polemical, and “marred in general by non sequiturs and by exaggeration.” Tariq Ali, the p... Read more

In the following review, Pal contends that although An Indian Dynasty: The Story of the Nehru-Gandhi Family “was written and produced in less than six months, it is well documented, generally a... Read more

In the following review, Fountain describes Ali as an “informative, funny, and illuminating writer,” lauding his prose in Street Fighting Years. Is it the right title? Mick Jagger joi... Read more