The Vortex: A True Story of History's Deadliest Storm, an Unspeakable War, and Liberation
528The Vortex: A True Story of History's Deadliest Storm, an Unspeakable War, and Liberation
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Overview
AN AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION NOTABLE BOOK IN NONFICTION
"[A] tremendous new book." —The Boston Globe
"Carney and Miklian write vividly in the fashion of a cinematic disaster flick." —The Washington Post
The deadliest storm in modern history ripped Pakistan in two and led the world to the brink of nuclear war when American and Soviet forces converged in the Bay of Bengal
In November 1970, a storm set a collision course with the most densely populated coastline on Earth. Over the course of just a few hours, the Great Bhola Cyclone would kill 500,000 people and begin a chain reaction of turmoil, genocide, and war. The Vortex is the dramatic story of how that storm sparked a country to revolution.
Bhola made landfall during a fragile time, when Pakistan was on the brink of a historic election. The fallout ignited a conflagration of political intrigue, corruption, violence, idealism, and bravery that played out in the lives of tens of millions of Bangladeshis. Authors Scott Carney and Jason Miklian take us deep into the story of the cyclone and its aftermath, told through the eyes of the men and women who lived through it, including the infamous president of Pakistan, General Yahya Khan, and his close friend Richard Nixon; American expats Jon and Candy Rhode; soccer star-turned-soldier Hafiz Uddin Ahmad; and a young Bengali revolutionary, Mohammed Hai.
Thrillingly paced and written with incredible detail, The Vortex is not just a story about the painful birth of a new nation but also a universal tale of resilience and liberation in the face of climate emergency that affects every single person on the planet.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9780062985422 |
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Publisher: | HarperCollins |
Publication date: | 03/14/2023 |
Pages: | 528 |
Sales rank: | 1,066,663 |
Product dimensions: | 5.60(w) x 8.70(h) x 1.40(d) |
About the Author
Jason Miklian, Ph.D., is a Senior Researcher at the Centre for Development and Environment, University of Oslo. Miklian has published over 60 academic and policy works on issues of conflict and crisis, based on extensive fieldwork in Bangladesh, Colombia, India, and the Congo. He serves on the United Nations Expert Panel on Business and Human Rights, has won several awards for his academic publications, and serves as an expert resource for various government knowledge banks in the US, UK, EU and Norway. Miklian has also written for or been cited in an expert capacity by the New York Times, BBC, The Economist, Washington Post, France 24, The Guardian, The Hindu (India) and NPR.
Table of Contents
Maps x
Authors' Note xiii
Prologue: Blackout xvii
Act I The Vortex
1 Hafiz Uddin Ahmad 3
2 Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan 17
3 Candy Rohde 24
4 Yahya Khan 31
5 Neil Frank 37
6 Yahya Khan and General Rani 43
7 Hafiz Uddin Ahmad 51
8 Mohammad Hai 56
9 Candy Rohde 64
10 Mohammad Hai 70
11 Candy Rohde 79
12 Mohammad Hai 83
13 Hafiz Uddin Ahmad 88
14 Yahya Khan 92
15 Candy Rohde 97
16 Neil Frank 102
17 Mohammad Hai 106
18 Hafiz Uddin Ahmad and Yahya Khan 110
19 Candy Rohde 117
20 Mohammad Hai 123
21 Jon Rohde, Mohammad Hai, and Candy Rohde 127
22 Neil Frank 136
23 Yahya Khan and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto 141
24 Mohammad Hai and Yahya Khan 145
Intermission: Yahya Khan and Tikka Khan 153
Act II Operation Searchlight
25 Yahya Khan 161
26 Mohammad Hai and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman 167
27 Hafiz Uddin Ahmad 172
28 Tikka Khan 175
29 Hafiz Uddin Ahmad 179
30 Yahya Khan, Tikka Khan, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto 185
31 Candy Rohde and Jon Rohde 194
32 Yahya Khan and Tikka Khan 198
33 Candy Rohde and Jon Rohde 205
34 Hafiz Uddin Ahmad 214
35 Candy Rohde, Jon Rohde, and Richard Nixon 228
36 Mohammad Hai 236
37 Yahya Khan, Tikka Khan, and A. A. K. Niazi 244
38 Hafiz Uddin Ahmad and Mohammad Hai 253
39 Candy Rohde 263
40 Yahya Khan and Henry Kissinger 273
41 Hafiz Uddin Ahmad 281
Musical Interlude: Ravi Shankar, George Harrison, Richard Nixon, and Henry Kissinger 287
Act III The Reckoning
42 Hafiz Uddin Ahmad 297
43 Mohammad Hai 303
44 Candy Rohde and Jon Rohde 309
45 A. A. K. Niazi and Tikka Khan 316
46 Mohammad Hai and Malik Mahmud 320
47 Yahya Khan and Richard Nixon 326
48 A. A. K. Niazi and Yayha Khan 332
49 Hafiz Uddin Ahmad 336
50 Yahya Khan and Richard Nixon 343
51 Captain Ernest Tissot and Rear Admiral Vladimir Kruglyakov 347
52 Zulfikar AH Bhutto, Yahya Khan, and Henry Kissing 352
53 Richard Nixon 355
54 A. A. K. Niazi and Yahya Khan 357
55 Rear Admiral Kruglyakov and Richard Nixon 362
56 A. A. K. Niazi, Richard Nixon, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and Hafiz Uddin Ahmad 367
57 Mohammad Hai and Malik Mahmud 372
58 Candy Rohde and Jon Rohde 378
59 Yahya Khan and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto 380
60 Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto 385
61 Hafiz Uddin Ahmad 390
62 Mohammad Hai and Malik Mahmud 394
63 Neil Frank 398
64 Richard Nixon and Zhou Enlai 401
Afterword; The Gathering Storm 404
Acknowledgments 415
Note on Sources 419
Notes 425
Selected Bibliography 475
Index 481