This book is Jamsheed Markers recollection, mostly from memory, of his varied diplomatic career in some of the worlds most important capitals, and of travels that took him from the frozen wastes of Siberia and the Arctic to the desert sands of the Sahara.

The author has met and known many of the worlds leaders, and has been witness to some significant events of the second half of the twentieth century. Situated in a strategic position, the young country of Pakistan soon found itself the focus of world attention, especially after the Soviet invasion of neighbouring Afghanistan. The author, at the time Pakistans ambassador to the US, was intimately involved in forging a joint strategy in one of the great geo-political battles of the 1980sthe effort to expel the Soviet army from Afghanistan. The author paints a vivid picture of the hectic behind the scenes efforts which culminated in the Geneva Accord in 1988 and subsequent withdrawal of Soviet forces.

Jamsheed Marker has juxtaposed events in Pakistan concurrently with each of his ambassadorial assignments. This not only provides a link and continuous thread to the narrative but also contains the authors impressions of the Pakistani leaders under whom he served. He has recorded all his impressions with candour and recalls his friendships not only with eminent writers, artists and musicians of all nationalities, but also with the common citizens of the countries in which he served.

The book is a valuable account of the art of diplomacy, as practised by an expert over a long period of time.

About the Author / Editor
Jamsheed Marker is a veteran Pakistani diplomat. He was Pakistan's top envoy to the United States and more than a dozen other countries for more than three decades and earned the distinction as the 'world's longest-serving ambassador'