Schofield, Victoria

PERSONAL:

Born in Washington, DC; married Stephen Willis; children: Alexandra, Anthony, Olivia. Education: Attended Royal Naval School (now The Royal School), Haslemere, Surrey, England, and Mary Institute, St. Louis, MO; Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, M.A. (with honors). Hobbies and other interests: Reading, swimming, tennis, piano, music, travel.

ADDRESSES:

Home— London, England. Agent— Sara Menguc, 58 Thorkhill Rd., Thames Ditton, Surrey KT7 OUG, England.

CAREER:

Journalist, historian, and author.Oxford University, St. Antony's College, Oxford, England, visiting fellow, 2004-05; University of Bradford, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, associate at the Pakistan Research Unit; radio commentator. President, Oxford Union, 1977; member, International Relations Advisory Council, Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford.

MEMBER:

Royal Society for Asian Affairs, Pakistan Society.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Kashmir Award, Justice Foundation, Kashmir Centre, 2006.

WRITINGS:

The United Nations: People, Politics and Power, Wayland (Hove, England), 1979, 3rd edition, 1985.

Bhutto, Trial and Execution, Cassell (London, England), 1979.

Every Rock, Every Hill: The Plain Tale of the Northwest Frontier and Afghanistan, Buchan & Enright (London, England), 1984.

Kashmir in the Crossfire, I.B. Tauris (New York, NY), 1996.

(Editor)Old Roads, New Highways: Fifty Years of Pakistan, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1997.

Kashmir in Conflict, I.B. Tauris (London, England), 1999, revised edition published as Kashmir in Conflict: Pakistan and the Unfinished War,2000, 2nd revised edition published as Kashmir in Conflict: India, Pakistan and the Unending War,2003.

The House That Fell Down: A Diary of a Domestic Disaster, John Murray (London, England), 2001.

Afghan Frontier: Feuding and Fighting in Central Asia, Tauris Parke Paperbacks (New York, NY), 2003.

Wavell: Soldier & Statesman, John Murray (London, England), 2006.

Contributor to newspapers and journals, including the Journal of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs. Editorial board member, Round Table.

SIDELIGHTS:

Victoria Schofield is an expert on Pakistan and Kashmir and has been observing the region and its people for three decades. She has also written extensively on Kashmir's political issues. Kashmir borders the northernmost section of Pakistan and India, and the two countries have had a longstanding dispute concerning which country has rights to the region, primarily the Kashmir valley. Today, Kashmir includes regions administered by India (the Kashmir valley, Jammu, and Ladakh), by Pakistan (northern areas and Azad Hasmir), and China (the region of Aksai Chin).

Schofield first wrote about the conflict over Kashmir in 1996 in her book Kashmir in the Crossfire, which was called a "clear-sighted, well written history of the dispute" by Contemporary Review contributor George Evans. She went on to expand her analysis in Kashmir in Conflict, which was first published in 1999. Revised editions were published in 2000 and 2003 and titled Kashmir in Conflict: Pakistan and the Unfinished War and Kashmir in Conflict: India, Pakistan and the Unending War, respectively. The author provides a history of the region, which has been famous for centuries for both its beauty and natural tranquility. She pays special attention to the historical context of the Kashmir conflict, from the time when Kashmir was an independent kingdom on through the modern-day conflict over the region between Pakistan and India. Schofield discusses the controversial sale of the predominantly Muslim valley by the British in 1846 to a Hindu maharaja, and the subsequent clashes between Muslim and Hindu interests, which have threatened to break out in a major war between Pakistan and India. This potential for war is of special interest to nations worldwide because both countries have nuclear weapons.

Commenting on the first revised edition,Kashmir in Conflict: Pakistan and the Unfinished War, in an article in Pacific Affairs, Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay noted that the author "provides us with an invaluable detailed and textured narrative of major events and active key players in Kashmir politics and in the secessionist movement. She has neatly and conveniently organized the region's contemporary political history in a year by year chronology. There is a wealth of information on the rise of several militant groups, groups which are locally based versus groups which derive support from Pakistan, training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan, militant violence, India's counter-insurgency measures, and the role (or a lack of it) of the Hurriyat Conference, the indigenous umbrella political group." In a review of the second revised edition,Kashmir in Conflict: India, Pakistan and the Unending War, Tribune India contributor Parshotam Mehra called the book "a reasonably balanced account that facilitates a better grasp of the ground realities and suggests a possible solution."

Afghan Frontier: Feuding and Fighting in Central Asia is an examination of the strategic importance of the northwest Afghan frontier. The author focuses on both the region's history, beginning with the invasion by Alexander the Great, and modern-day issues. She includes numerous quotes from historical and modern-day observers as she draws on written records, soldier's letters, journals, and travelers' reports, as well as her firsthand experience traveling to the region. "Victoria Schofield uses her extensive knowledge of the country to tell a story, which has all the excitement of a traveller's tale," averred Middle East contributor Fred Rhodes.

Schofield is also the author of Wavell: Soldier & Statesman, a biography of Field Marshal Sir Archibald Percival Wavell, the 1st Earl of Wavell and commander of the British Army in the Middle East during World War II. Observing that "Wavell presents a challenging subject," Justin Wintle went on to write in the Financial Times: "Fifty-six years after his death the jury is still out as to his final stature. Either he was one of the great British soldiers of the 20th century, or a mediocrity whose cautiousness contributed to signal defeats in the earlier stages of the Second World War."

In her sympathetic biography, Schofield draws on unpublished letters and diaries, as well as interviews with people who knew Wavell, to reveal his complex personality, examine his poor relationship with Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and consider his place in British history. She discusses his early victory over the Italians in the Middle East and his subsequent defeat by the German Army. Schofield also explores his time as Viceroy of India from 1943-47. Writing a review of Wavell in the Spectator, Philip Ziegler commented that the author "is eminently fair, knows Asia well, describes his campaigns lucidly and concisely, and has produced a book which may not be the last word on Wavell but is a great deal nearer to it than anything that has appeared before." A Contemporary Review contributor believed that Wavell "is based on a thorough mastery of surviving documents," concluding that it is "a model biography."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Asian Affairs, February, 1997, Mohammed Waseem, review of Kashmir in the Crossfire, p. 102; February, 1999, Anthony Hyman, review of Old Roads, New Highways: Fifty Years of Pakistan, p. 94; October, 2001, Andrew Hall, review of Kashmir in Conflict: India, Pakistan and the Unfinished War, p. 339; March, 2007, Michael Neale, review of Wavell: Soldier & Statesman, p. 104.

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, March, 1997, review of Kashmir in the Crossfire, p. 1217; July 1, 2003, N. Entessar, review of Kashmir in Conflict, p. 1985.

Contemporary Review, January, 1997, George Evans, review of Kashmir in the Crossfire, p. 46; winter, 2006, review of Wavell, p. 536.

English Historical Review, December, 2006, Ian Talbot, review of Wavell, p. 1563.

Financial Times, April 29, 2006, Justin Wintle, "Soldier of Misfortune Backed Then Sacked by Churchill, Was Field Marshall Wavell Good, Bad or Just Unlucky?," p. 30.

Foreign Affairs, November-December, 2000, Lucian W. Pye, review of Kashmir in Conflict, p. 190.

History Today, April 1988, review of Every Rock, Every Hill: A Plain Tale of the Northwest Frontier and Afghanistan, p. 58.

International Affairs, April, 1997, Undala Alam, review of Kashmir in the Crossfire, p. 395; October, 1998, David Page, review of Old Roads, New Highways, p. 980.

Library Journal, December, 1996, Donald Clay Johnson, review of Kashmir in the Crossfire, p. 123.

London Review of Books, October 5, 2006, Richard Gott, "Wafted to India," review of Wavell, p. 27.

Middle East, December, 2003, Fred Rhodes, review of Afghan Frontier: Feuding and Fighting in Central Asia, p. 64.

Muslim World, fall, 2002, Kemal Argon and Bulent Aras, review of Kashmir in Conflict, pp. 488-491.

New Statesman, April 24, 2000, Jason Cowley, "A Place of Greater Danger," p. 53.

Pacific Affairs, winter, 2001, Reeta Chowdhari Tremblay, "Kashmir Conflict: Secessionist Movement, Mobilization and Political Institutions," p. 569.

Spectator, April 8, 2006, Philip Ziegler, "A Talent for Losing," review of Wavell, p. 44.

Times Literary Supplement, March 29, 2002, review of The House That Fell Down: A Diary of a Domestic Disaster, p. 30; July 7, 2006, Jon Latimer, "Classical Warrior," review of Wavell, p. 30.

Tribune India(Chandigarh, India), March 21, 2004, Parshotam Mehra, "New Light on an Old Problem," review of Kashmir in Conflict: India, Pakistan and the Unending War.

ONLINE

Curled Up with a Good Book,http://www.curledup.com/ (November 6, 2007), Shampa Chatterjee, review of Kashmir in Conflict.

Haverford College Web site,http://www.haverford.edu/ (November 6, 2007), brief profile of Victoria Schofield.

High Commission for Pakistan, London Web site,http://www.pakmission-uk.gov.pk/ (November 6, 2007), brief profile of Victoria Schofield.

IndiaStar Review of Books,http://www.indiastar.com/ (November 6, 2007), Subhash Kak, review of Kashmir in the Crossfire.

University of Bradford, Pakistan Security Research Unit Web site, http://spaces.brad.ac.uk:8080/display/ssispsru/(November 6, 2007), brief profile of Victoria Schofield.

Victoria Schofield Home Page,http://www.victoriaschofield.com (November 6, 2007).