This sweeping narrative sketches the political and economic realities of the past 50 years while tracing an eventful life from the turmoil following the partition of India and the creation of Pakistan to the present day. Discussing politics, government policies and popular movements, Dr. Ehtisham shows how nations as well as individual lives are shaped by historical events, economic changes, religious fundamentalism, class systems and racial divides. Through his own experience as a doctor and hospital director, Dr. Ehtisham compares the advanced social safety net state of the post-war U.K. with regimes that are determined to see people "stand on their own two feet" even when the economic system has already cut them off at the knees.