Passage to Peshawar: Pakistan, between the Hindu Kush and the Arabian Sea
Passage to Peshawar is in the classic vein of voyages of adventure. Richard Reeves, the acclaimed author of American Journey, takes us to one of the most beautiful and dangerous lands: Pakistan -- the ninth-largest country in the world. "There are many wonders and exotic ways between the Hindu Kush and the Arabian Sea," he writes. "Pakistan is an exciting place, from the ancient city of Moenjodaro to the ancient ways still practiced in the pagan valleys Rudyard Kipling wrote of in 'The Man Who Would Be King.' Just to be in the country was an adventure."
The author conveys that adventure with vividness and wit and great feeling for the people he encounters -- from the opening scene Gadani Beach, where gangs of men break up 10,000-ton ships for scrap and then cut up the superstructure like a salami, to the closing scene, which takes place on Eid-ul-Fitr, a day of thanksgiving. On this day the dictator hears the complaints and the pleas of a few of the thousand who have lined up to seek his favor, even kiss his hand. Suddenly a deputy minister comes up behind the author and whispers: "Americans must not believe that this is what the people of Pakistan want."
"What do they want?"
"We are speaking unofficially?"
"Yes, of course."
"People are the same as people in America. The people want democracy. The people want justice. The people want freedom."
But Pakistan today is governed by a military dictatorship, backed by the money and might of the United States. It is our client, the world "frontline" in the terminology of the U.S. State Department, the danger zone in the tests of will and strength between the United States and the Soviet Union. Through the Khyber Pass in Afghanistan, where 135,000 Soviet troops are fighting hundreds of thousands of Mujahideen, the fighters of an Islamic Holy War,descendents of warriors who have always prevailed against their invaders. From Pakistan, the United States channels its aid to these fighters through the frontier city of the Pathans, Peshawar. The book tells how Pakistan, one of the poorest countries in the world, is absorbing millions of even poorer, more desperate people, Afghan refugees.
Richard Reeves paints an unforgettable portrait of this land and its people -- living simultaneously in the Stone Age, the medieval world, the nineteenth century and the technological present, faithful to an austere religion foreign and frightening to us, hustling for the luxuries of modern life. Passage to Peshawar is filled with stark and poetic word pictures. On Independence Day, a "cross section" of the population is assembled. Reeves looks out over the crowd and sees only three women: one of them is his wife.
Reviews
"Informative, fascinating, and topical. . . . I know of no other journalistic account of a third world country that I can recommend as highly as this." Houston Chronicle
"Passage to Peshawar is teeming with contrasts in landscape, incident and innuendo, all of which are tamed by the keen eye and vivid insights of the narrator. . . . The value of Passage to Peshawar rests largely with the author's ability to communicate the tugs of modernity and tradition on the turbid soul of this populous nation. . . . He succeeds masterfully. . . . A virtuoso performance by a first-rate journalist at the peak of his reportorial and interpretive powers." The Christian Science Monitor
"Reportorial skill and instinct, coupled with his considerable talents as a writer, combine to give us a book that is eminently readable. . . . Reeves offers a series of interwoven essays that give us a feel for the dynamics of the place. . . . It is serious stuff with which he deals -- Islam, the desperate desire for economic growth, the interaction of a great power and developing state in a turbulent part of the world." Richard M. Weintraub, The Washington Post
"He's a brilliant writer. . . . You have a sense of this interesting journalist trying to deal with strange inland tribes in Pakistan . . . or swaying on bridges above chasms." The Los Angeles Times
Upcoming Events
- Denver, CO — August 26, 2008; 2-3:30 p.m — Denver Art Museum — keynote speaker, "Politics and the Media: Bridging the Political Divide in the 2008 Elections."
- Grand Forks, ND — September 26, 2008 — University of North Dakota School of Law
- Moraga, CA — October 8, 2008 — St. Mary's College
- New York, NY— October 25, 2008 — New York Historical Society — Kennedy and Nixon "If I'm Elected"
Videos of Recent Appearances
The attached video is of a Richard Reeves lecture at Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Kentucky on the night of October 30, 2007.
Click this link to launch this movie in an external player.
Recent Articles
Richard Reeves has the lead article in the Fall 2007 edition of Berlin Journal, the magazine of the American Academy in Berlin.
I spent the better part of the last twenty years researching and writing a trilogy on the American presidency, doing books on John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan. I knew I had said what I had to say on all that. I had to find some new subjects. At the same time, I continued writing a syndicated column for newspapers around the country, an exercise that kept me up on the politics and people of the day and of the twenty-first century. I was not happy many of those days. My country was becoming, or being — seen as, arrogant, self-righteous, and brutal — a monster using its very substantial power to try to enforce a new order, a kind of neo-imperialism. Of course, we meant well; Americans usually do. After all, didn't these people want to be like us?
Reader Emails
DECEMBER 1, 2008 — A New Era of Bipartisanship?
Respectfully. Are you serious... "devastating climate change"? You're watching too many bad sci-fi
films and listening to the global warming (oops, climate change) industry at the exclusion of
the growing number of researchers who realize that what we're going through is a natural rhythm.
Comparing a potential war (a very real possibility) with a devastating climate change (pop culture silliness) makes you, one of our best political observer's, sound hysterical. —B.S.
NOVEMBER 25, 2008 — Latest Column
I will give it to you, that Barack is showing great competence in the transition. But in order to achieve the permanent majority, he will need to override the excruciating Democratic structure that includes such factious luminaries like Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and especially the man with hoof and mouth Barney Frank.
This level of Reprisal politics will turn off the electorate and they will swing back to a much more rational and grounded Republican Party. I do agree with Mort Kondracke, the party must move away from entertainers who are not that entertaining anymore Rush Limbaugh and Shaun Hannity; Anne Coulter is entertaining in the way Al Franken is, but God forbid she runs for office. This too will hurt the Democrats as it should. —C.R.
NOVEMBER 25, 2008 — Nov. 24 Column
Two quick responses from your column on the Obama transition...
1. I'm not defending George Bush, but I still don't understand how or why the last eight years was the Worst Eight Years of Human History as everyone contends, and I wonder if this is a case of hindsight being 20/30? The lives of most people I know improved drastically over the last eight years, whether they realize it or not. How or why people prosper has little to do with the presidency. America *is* the mechanism for growth and achievement, not the government. I'm just confused as to why we have to sweep all of the great things that happened in the last eight years under the rug.
2. We don't know anything about Obama. We might get "better leadership" or we might just get more liberalism. Liberalism continues to prosper no matter who is president. It prospered under Bush, too. I live in a rural area so I don't see great changes occurring, but I have seen a gradual move to the left throughout my life. Are we more liberal than we were in 1990? Yes. Are we more liberal than we were in 2000? Again, yes. So, in other words, we can't simply trash the last eight years and yet say the next eight are going to be fabulous. To me we'll just be an even more liberal nation after Obama, and the scariest thing I've ever seen in my life-time didn't come out of the Bush administration, but maybe it was a result of it, and that is that I have now seen America throw open its arms to socialism as well as embrace the most inexperienced and completely unknown person to seek the presidency in our history--and make him President. Thank you, yellow journalism. America, Home of the Whiny. We may not have a president during this transition because one is immobilized and one has no constitutional powers yet, but run for the hills after Jan. 20 if you're an individualist, a conservative, or if you hate the nanny state, because here comes the nanny! Who knows if the individual or the private sector will have any power eight years from now at all. I'm pretty much shaking in my boots about the next eight years, and suddenly I wish I could go back and live the last eight again, because they were pretty good to me. —M.I.
OCTOBER 17, 2008 — RE: Latest Column
I'm curious about this Les guy. Does his Bible (if he has one) have the words to Exodus 20:16 crossed out?
My dad told me that you had said that Obama was the Antichrist, and that he read it in your column, Richard.
I don't think he took the time to notice that you were quoting someone whose lies you were vilifying. I had to set the record straight for him, but I worry that millions of others like my Dad are looking at that column and thinking the same thing. It's embarrassing that the father of two teachers cannot pay any better attention to what he's reading than that. It worries me to think that he's not the only one.
For McCain's own sake, I hope he does not win the election. He'll have to spend the rest of his life knowing that he won on the basis of lies and hatred. He'll know that he won because the very people who destroyed him in South Carolina in 2000 are now attempting to destroy Obama. He'll know that those people own him. He'll owe those liars and hate-mongers=2 0his presidency. Just like GW has owed them for resorting to lies to get elected and re-elected (or is that appointed and elected?).
Thanks for the column. One thing: I'm glad my Dad brought your words to my attention. It's a shame he convinced himself that you said Obama is the Antichrist. —S.P.
OCTOBER 17, 2008 — RE: A Campaign Gone Wrong
It's a mistake to equate, even rhetorically, the Obama campaign's
calling McCain 'erratic' with the McCain campaign's more sinister
stuff. Yes, you do say that what McCain's is doing is worse - as if
admitting something obvious was a real insight. But you put the two
things in the same category, which is simply wrong. Calling McCain
'erratic' may be blunt, and may also be good politics for Obama, but
it happens to be true. McCain has been remarkably erratic during this
campaign, changing his mind 180 degrees more than once, often in very
short order - sometimes in the same sentence! His choice of Palin was
incredibly irresponsible and risky; I'd call that 'erratic'. Calling
McCain what he (unfortunately) *is* simply is not categorically the
same as calling Obama what he is not, eg unpatriotic, a terrorist,
etc.
You press guys have been utterly snowed by McCain all these years. I gather than McCain can be charming and funny in person, and those of you who know him personally, at least somewhat, understandably have a hard time being objective. But if you look at his record without bias, this - the current public man, rather than the honorable version of himself you - and he - like to talk about - *is* the 'real' McCain.
I like some of your work, Mr Reeves, and I don't mean to be rude. But so many of us out here are slowly being driven crazy by this sort of myopia - this rigid, effectively aggressive, insistance on seeing every political question as 'balanced', as reflecting a DC consensus - a consensus which has been utterly extinct for many years - no matter the situation. No, we aren't all 'speaking in code'. McCain IS erratic. —J.B.
AUGUST 18, 2008 — RE: McCain and Obama: Different Kinds of Men
It is sad to hear about people struggling to make ends meet; it is nothing new in our history, but my heart goes out to anyone in a financial bind, especially people who live in areas with very cold winters, like the northeast USA. My concern is with your column is the last paragraph, which seems to (again) ask the politicians in Washington DC to "help us". As President Reagan said, "government is not the solution; government is the problem". Just looking at the fuel-price situation alone, we can place much of the blame on the politicians in Washington DC, including the following:
(1) no new oil refineries in this country since the 1970's; (2) offshore drilling banned by the politicians; (3) the ANWR is off-limits to drilling; (4) millions of acres of land with vast coal and natural gas reserves have become unavailable by the left-wing politicians' turning them into "national parks"; (5) the use of ethanol which costs more to produce and is more polluting than refining petroleum; (6) the cost of corn has gone way up due to the politicians' love affair with ethanol.
I could go on, but you get the point. Let's get the politicians off our backs, reduce government spending, waste, and unnecessary programs. We need an effective term-limits policy too. The longer a politician is in Washington DC, the more he or she compromises their principles, lines their own pockets, and makes pay-offs to the special-interest groups that keep funding their re-election campaigns. God save us from such people! —R.R.
AUGUST 17, 2008 — Latest Column
To the "newly poor" in America,
Where did all your money go? How about this for starters, over 60 cents of every dollar spent by your government in the last years has gone to the military for new F22 jets, new ships and new bombs to blow up. Hope you enjoyed the show and feel you got your money's worth.
Now what about the other 40 cents? —L.B.
Latest Column
President Obama: The Real Deal?
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — Exactly a year ago, like almost everyone else, I knew only a couple of things about Sen. Barack Obama, beginning with what he looked like — different than most presidential candidates — and that my daughter, my newly minted Duke grad, Fiona, was working for him as a field organizer in New Hampshire, while her friends went off to law school or investment houses. I admired her for that, but, like most everyone else, again, I expected my senator, Hillary Clinton of New York, to be the Democratic nominee for president.
Column Archive
This Was the Year That Was
LOS ANGELES — It was the worst of years. It was the best of years. For Americans, both beaten down and hopeful at the same time, this should be, has to be, a time for renewal. New problems, new challenges, a new president, a new generation.
Rod ‘I Want the Money!’ Just Couldn’t Wait
LOS ANGELES — Many years ago, I wrote a story for the old Newark Evening News that got a lot of attention, at least in that part of the world. The headline was, "Happy Birthday, Frankie!"
Coming Home to America
LOS ANGELES — It was T.S. Eliot, an American living abroad, who wrote this: "And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."
A New Era of Bipartisanship?
LOS ANGELES — Early in this year's primary election season I did a study on bipartisanship for the Center on Communication Leadership of the University of Southern California. I'm afraid I was not very optimistic that Republicans and Democrats would be able to get together on much of anything after the Clinton and Bush years of what some call "hyperpartisanship."
The Republicans Will Rise Again
CHICAGO — Reading about the Republican Party as I flew across the country last week was like walking through a graveyard. It was pretty much one journalistic headstone after another. Abandon hope ye who enter these gates.
The Obama Transition
NEW YORK — "During this most dangerous White House transition in American history, the country (has) two presidents: one powerless (the president-elect, possessing no constitutional authority), the other paralyzed."
The Fifth 'Pivot Point' Election
NEW YORK — "Do Elections Matter?" That was the title of a conference of historians, journalists and other interested parties sponsored by The New York Historical Society last week. The answer, of course, was "yes" — and this one matters a good deal more than most.
I Hear America Singing
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Like Walt Whitman, I hear America singing:
"...the varied carols I hear;
"...The carpenter singing his, as he measures his plank or beam,
"The mason singing his, as he makes ready for work..."
The Times They Are A'Changing — Again
LOS ANGELES — It is obviously time for a change. A big change. You don't have to be Machiavelli or a trained historian to understand what has happened this year when the Republican candidate for president, in televised debate, attacks the incumbent Republican president.
A Campaign Gone Wrong
LOS ANGELES — In this great democracy, perhaps the real test of a president is whether he brings out the best or the worst in the American people. The tragedy of this campaign, or the tragedy of John McCain, a man who knows the difference, is bringing out the worst.
The Five Weeks of Sarah Palin
LOS ANGELES — I would like to pay due deference to the Republican candidate for vice president of the United States. I am happy for her that she was not asked a question during last Thursday night's "debate" that she could not robo-answer with memorized talking points.
Panic on the Potomac
GRAND FORKS, N.D. — The 43rd president, George W. Bush, added a couple more quotes for historians to consider after he finally gives up the leadership of the country, which is what he seemed to be trying to do last week:
1. "If money isn't loosened up, this sucker could go down." The sucker in question, according to The New York Times, is the economy of this United States. The paper was quoting a remark made by our leader during his "contentious" White House meeting last Thursday with congressional leaders and presidential candidates to try to work out a plan to get more money out to (and from) the folks. The argument in Washington seemed to be about whether "folks" means ordinary citizens or bankers and other enemies of the state.
WWRD ... What Would Roosevelt Do?
LOS ANGELES — Like most political journalists, I don't claim to know all that much about economics or the details of the current economic crisis. Usually, we don't make enough money to be players. The only stock I've ever owned was in companies I worked for that had small stock-option plans for small players.
The Year of Campaign Lying
LOS ANGELES — Driving to work on Thursday morning, I heard a radio report that began with the words: "Good news!" That news turned out to be that gasoline prices at California pumps had dropped to $3.78 a gallon, down from more than $4 a month ago.
Is Obama Already President?
NEW YORK — As a member of the Elite Eastern Media in good standing (I hope), I would like to say that St. Paul was the most educational and enjoyable Republican National Convention I have ever watched. Thrilling, really. I did not know that we, the people like me, were running the country until hearing it from John McCain, Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and the rest of that wonderful bunch from real America.
Who is Prepared to be President? Nobody
DENVER — Is Barack Obama prepared to be president? No. Neither is John McCain.
A Vote for Elitism
NEW YORK — If you care about the United States and care about swimming — I happen to care about both — who do you want representing you, Michael Phelps or "one of us"?
Broke and Broken in America
SAG HARBOR, N.Y. — Coming home after working abroad for a couple of months means looking at mountains — of mail. But a lot of it is from banks offering credit cards and from politicians offering salvation, both for a price. You can throw that stuff out without opening any of it.
