In the Line of Fire: A Memoir is a book that was written by former President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf and first published on September 25, 2006. The book contains a collection of Musharraf's memories and is being marketed as his official autobiography.

Synopsis

The book consists topics regarding Musharraf's personal life to the international and national issues and his rise to power. He writes about his childhood, education and life. The memoir also includes some very important international events which had direct connection with Musharraf and his policies. Besides these he writes about his life in Pakistan Army and the major assassination attempts on him. He also states that he wasn't involved in the 1979 Makkah seizure

Views on war against India

Musharraf writes in his memoir about the wars that took place between the two rival countries after independence, namely Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and 1999 Kargil Conflict. He also writes about the Pakistan's unsuccessful Operation Ababeel which was launched to preempt India's Operation Meghdoot. According to Musharraf, India started all the wars and crossed the Line of Control on each conflict, of which, according to him, United Nations had forbidden.

About Nawaz Sharif

The book includes a chapter on Pakistani military coup in 1999 against Nawaz Sharif and reveals his view point on Sharif's plane hijacking. He criticizes Nawaz for setting him aside as military commander and believes Nawaz and his brother Shahbaz Sharif had been under the immense influence of their father, Mian Mohammad Sharif, who influenced prime minister his son Nawaz Sharif to stage the coup against him.

On September 11

Musharraf, in his memoir, says, he had little choice after the September 11 attacks but to back the U.S.-led war on terror. Pervez Musharraf agreed to back the U.S. led war against terror, fearing the threats made by that time U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on a phone call to him. He said "You are either with us or against us". The next day, he says, Powell's then deputy, Richard Armitage, telephoned the chief of Pakistan's top spy agency, and threatened to nuke Pakistan back to the stone age. On the pressure aforementioned, Musharraf accepted all the seven points, set before him as demands, by Colin Powell. This readiness amazed Washington and has been criticized since in Pakistan.

Editions

Currently the book is published in five editions: Pak (English & Urdu), US (English), UK (English) and Indian (Hindi). All feature the picture of Pervez Musharraf at the centre of the green and white background. The Urdu edition hit the market 3 weeks after the initial publication in English. In the US edition the president appears in a salutary posture with his right hand fingers touching the forehead. In the UK edition, the author seems in a thinking posture with his left hand fingers kept on his chin. In comparison with the US edition, the UK edition sports a crescent on the silky green background of the book.

In India

All the 8000 copies of the English version were sold out in India during the initial stage of the launch. The Indian distributor had ordered another 4000 copies to meet the demand, according to the news reports. Copies sold in India outnumbered the copies sold in Pakistan citing the curiosity in analyzing his viewpoints. A lot of views from India were that the curiosity of Indian readers has only added to the sales and popularity of the book.

Hindi edition

A New Delhi publisher published the Hindi version of his book titled as Agnipath (The Path of Fire), ostensibly after a popular 1990 Indian film of the same name whose lead actor, Amitabh Bacchan, Musharraf reportedly liked. The Hindi translation re-edited portions related to the Kargil War. The Hindi edition, translated and printed in India, came out in early October 2006 and was sold in India for Rs 395, about one third of the English version's cost.

Tamil edition

New Horizon Media, an Indian-language publishing house based in Chennai, India, has published the Tamil translation of his book, titled உடல் மண்ணுக்கு (Udal Mannukku) (ISBN 81-8368-252-9), under its கிழக்கு பதிப்பகம (Kizhakku Pathippagam) imprint. The Tamil edition's title was taken from the popular Tamil quote “Udal Mannukku, Uyir Thamizhukku!" (My body to the soil, my life to Tamil!) . Nagore Rumi translated the book into Tamil. B. S. Raghavan, a former Ministry of Home Affairs bureaucrat of the Government of India, released the book in Chennai during the 30th Chennai Book Fair January 10, 2007. The Tamil version is priced at Rs. 250, about a quarter of the price of the English edition, which is sold in India for Rs. 950.

Urdu edition

An Urdu edition named Sab Se Pehle Pakistan (Pakistan Comes First) of the book was also released. It however removes the controversial comments made in the English book including that the government was paid for the capture of Taliban and al-Qaeda militants.

Bengali edition

A Bengali translated version of the book titled as same as the English (transliterated) was published in Bangladesh.

Criticism

This book and its launch generated a fair amount of criticism. It was subjected to harsh reviews in India.

Errors

Some of the factual/typographical errors in the book surfaced so far are:

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