Have Pen, Will Travel

M.J. Akbar

Dec 2010 · Roli Books Private Limited

About this eBook

Have Pen, Will Travel is a highly engaging collection of reportage and travel pieces that appeared originally in leading journalist and author M.J. Akbar’s column, Byline. The intrepid author ambles – or sometimes jogs – through Africa, America, Asia and of course the innumerable corners of India to record an engrossing mix of piquant observation, geography and history. With a keen eye, deft insight and wit, Akbar assembles a rich mosaic of a world that enlightens and entertains.

About the author

ÊM.J. Akbar, one of IndiaÕs finest editors and author of many acclaimed books, was born in January 1951. An Indian Muslim, his father Sheikh Akbar Ali was from Bihar, while his mother, Imtiaz, was a Kashmiri. He studied at St. JosephÕs Convent, Chandannagar and the Calcutta BoysÕ School before graduating from the Presidency College, Kolkata. He joined the Times of India group, and then the Illustrated Weekly of India in 1971 where he worked as sub-editor and features writer. Five years later, he moved to the Ananda Bazaar Patrika group and launched a weekly news magazine, Sunday, which soon established itself as a leading journal of the country. In 1982, Akbar conceived, designed and edited the Telegraph, IndiaÕs most successful newspaper in the past few decades. He took a short break from journalism when he joined politics in 1989 and was elected to Parliament. In 1994, Akbar launched the Asian Age, IndiaÕs first international newspaper. The founder-editor of the Sunday Guardian, his books include India: The Siege Within, Riot After Riot, The Shade of Swords: Jihad and the Conflict between Islam and Christianity, Blood Brothers and Tinderbox: The Past and Future of Pakistan.