Read this book, it is good, interesting and entertaining

Written by my former colleague Shakir Husain, an excellent and well known writer and reporter from India 

http://www.amazon.com/The-Merchant-King-ebook/dp/B0085Y1PPW/ref=pd_rhf_pe_p_t_1

It is 1990, the year Nelson Mandela is freed after spending 27 years in prison. Saqr, the young prince of Balad, is studying in London, nursing ambitions to modernize his tiny island. That year his region is hit by great tumult when Scar, the Supreme Commander of the Arab Republic of Khaufistan, invades the small nation of Benzenistan. Saqr finds himself caught in the whirlwind of world events, playing the game of global overlords as he embarks on an ambitious plan to usher in a new era. But what looks good on paper results, first, in disorder, and later on, something more horrifying.
This humorous novel takes the reader on a roller-coaster ride along Saqr’s dramatic and idiosyncratic life, capturing the state of a mythical Arab nation torn between the assurance of its past and lure of the future. But this novel is no journey into history. It is rather a satirical look at how a Western-educated Arab prince dreams big, finds allies and enemies, and battles with destiny.
It traces Saqr’s soaring ambitions, the colourful people in his life, the shenanigans of investment bankers, absurdities of Arab leadership, and the shock and drama of human life in fictitious events that occur across continents. If this sounds like the downfall of dictators in the Arab uprisings of 2011, this novel will make you ponder the plausibility of even more dramatic events.


EDITORIAL REVIEWS


If one has to reflect on events in the last two decades that have shaped the world today in a humorous way, “The Merchant King” ... is the book to go for — Bernama, the Malaysian national news agency


Written in a lucid manner, the book has several funny names and acronyms — Press Trust of India


The action never lets up, like in a foreign correspondent’s life ... The author's lightness of touch ensures that you don’t start suspecting you will be sold some ideology that goes against the grain of your own deep-seated prejudices