War at the Top of the World
War at the Top of the World presents a history of the complicated and volatile conflicts that entangle one of the most beautiful and remote parts of the world. The book plays witness to the escalating conflict between India and Pakistan over the isolated and contested territories of Kashmir and Ladakh, an age-old dispute that threatens to transform their arms race from a regional concern to an alarming global crisis.
Eric Margolis traces this struggle along with the conflicts in neighboring Afghanistan and Tibet, back to their Cold War roots, combining vivid first-hand accounts as a war correspondent together with a historical and strategic overview of the region. He offers a clear, concise analysis about the geopolitical complexities of the area and the key players in a complicated and little-understood part of the world that is home to a quarter of the world's population. Fascinating and indispensable, War at the Top of the World is an extraordinary read for anyone interested in the current global balance of power.
Gilbert Taylor writes in Booklist: "Having reported for years from the Khyber Pass and the Karakoram and Himalayan ranges, journalist Margolis here distills his experience with the geopolitics of this forbidding region. To outsiders, it might seem perplexing that Pakistan, India, and China should have fought wars over uninhabitable mountains, a bewilderment Margolis dispels by explaining the stakes in Kashmir and Tibet as viewed from Islamabad, New Delhi, and Beijing. It may seem bizarre that the battlefield, at 16,000 feet of elevation, is on the Siachen Glacier, where hypoxic, frostbitten Indians and Pakastinis regularly lob shells at each other. The author's explanation makes it more understandable strategically, for he who controls the glacier controls the only Pakistan-China road. Convinced that Hindu-Muslim animosities will again erupt in war, Margolis describes the tension between China and India, played out in their nascent nuclear and naval arms races. Combining vignettes of his travels (including to Lhasa) with strategic summaries, Margolis usefully draws attention to hot spots some believe are the most likely to set off a nuclear war. "
Founder of the school newspaper, Alexandre, Eric Margolis continued in the field of journalism as a syndicated columnist, writing for the Toronto Sun Media Group.
He is Contributing Foreign Editor of the Toronto Sun newspapers and a syndicated columnist whose articles have been published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times. He has appeared on Good Morning America, CBS News, CNN, ABC and WNET.
Eric's column: Foreign Correspondent is a twice-weekly commentary on world affairs and can be veiwed online at: http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/margolis.html
