Since Pakistan gained independence in 1947, only once has an elected government completed its tenure and peacefully transferred power to another elected government. In sharp contrast to neighboring India, the Muslim nation has been ruled by its military for over three decades. Even when they were not directly in control of the government, the armed forces maintained a firm grip on national politics. How the military became Pakistan’s foremost power elite and what its unchecked authority means for the future of this nuclear-armed nation are among the crucial questions Aqil Shah takes up in The Army and Democracy . Pakistan’s and India’s armies inherited their organization, training, and doctrines from their British predecessor, along with an ethic that regarded politics as outside the military domain. But Pakistan’s weak national solidarity, exacerbated by a mentality that saw war with India looming around every corner, empowered the military to take national security and ultimately government into its own hands. As the military’s habit of disrupting the natural course of politics gained strength over time, it arrested the development of democratic institutions. Based on archival materials, internal military documents, and over 100 interviews with politicians, civil servants, and Pakistani officers, including four service chiefs and three heads of the clandestine Inter-Services Intelligence, The Army and Democracy provides insight into the military’s contentious relationship with Pakistan’s civilian government. Shah identifies steps for reforming Pakistan’s armed forces and reducing its interference in politics, and sees lessons for fragile democracies striving to bring the military under civilian control. Shah is commendably balanced and thorough. His narrative taps archive material, military documents, and more than 100 interviews with Pakistani officers, politicians and civil servants: political science indeed. The Army and Democracy successfully conveys the Borgia-like high drama of traditional Islamabad politics, which makes Beijing's seem almost tame.-The South China Morning Post, 6 May 2008. The first comprehensive, historical study of the behavior of Pakistan's military relative to India. The Indian Express/PTI, 6 May 2014 The book makes for a fine analysis. Livemint [This] rich and skilfully argued book leaves no doubt about the military's central responsibility in blighting the course of Pakistan's democratization -Times Higher Education, 8 May 2014. "One of the best books on Pakistan."Ahmad Faruqui, Author of Rethinking the National Security of Pakistan Aqil Shah is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Government at Dartmouth College.