Cover Point

Jamsheed Marker's lifetime in the diplomatic service of Pakistan gave him a unique vintage point. In cricket terms, he was at cover point, near enough to the wicket to follow the action around the stumps...yet sufficiently distant for a general overview of the state of play. Unlike his previously published book Quiet Diplomacy: Memoirs of an Ambassador of Pakistan (OUP, 2010), which is a rich history of his many ambassadorial assignments, Cover Point covers Marker's impressions of Pakistans most powerful leaders. With the exception of the incorruptible Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and his lieutenant Liaquat Ali Khan, all of Pakistans leaders succumbed, in increasingly pernicious fashion, to the malign and pervasive influences of sycophancy and flattery.