What a fascinating book with a well-researched premise about the Shah family and its legacy on diplomacy, politics, religion and the self-help movement. The book is about the life and career of Ibal (the father) and his two sons, Idries and Omar, who helped build a new narrative about India, Afghanistan, and the Muslim/Sufi world. It is amazing to read that so many people were drawn into their web and how their influence was promoted for so many years. Their narrative sounded plausible, but was it really, and the web these people spun is the basis of the book.

It is hard to write a review without giving away the premise of the book, so I want you to read it and see for yourself. I very much enjoyed reading the book, but wish it gave more backstory into Idries’s life, and if he had children and how they viewed their family’s legacy given the evidence. Did his wife have any idea how he conducted his life? I have many questions, but would have to do more research myself.

I think the book is very timely as we get to see how people can believe a narrative that is false if it is pushed with conviction and presented as real.