In 1947, India and Pakistan were born to conflict. Here renowned India scholar Stanley Wolpert provides an authoritative, accessible primer on what is potentially the world's most dangerous crisis, concisely dis¬tilling sixty-three years of complex history, tracing the roots of the rela¬tionship between these two antago¬nists, explaining the many attempts to resolve their disputes, and assess¬ing the dominant political leaders. While the tragic partition left many urgent problems, none has been more difficult than the struggle over Kashmir, claimed by both India and Pakistan.

This intensely divisive issue has triggered two conventional wars and killed some one hundred thou¬sand Kashmiris, and it has almost ignited two nuclear wars since 1998, when both India and Pakistan openly emerged as nuclear-weapon states. In addition to providing a comprehensive perspective on the origin and nature of this pressing conflict, Wolpert examines all the proposed solutions and concludes with a road map for a brighter future for South Asia.