Zoom Event: In Conversation with Victoria Schofield – The Fragrance of Tears: My Friendship with Benazir Butto

Black and white picture of Victoria Schofield and Benazir Bhutto
Victoria Schofield and Benazir Bhutto

A friend and supporter of The ClementJames Centre, Victoria Schofield has hosted several of our In Conversation With series, including fascinating discussions with foreign correspondent Christina Lamb and former BBC news presenter Carrie Gracie. She joins us to talk about her most recent book, The Fragrance of Tears: My Friendship with Benazir Bhutto.

Victoria Schofield will be in conversation with Dr Nasreen Rehman, activist, academic and award-winning screenplay writer, artistic director of the Grand Trunk Road Company, and director of the National Commission on Forced Marriage. 

The Fragrance of Tears covers Schofield’s thirty-three year friendship with the late former prime minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, whom she met while they were both at Oxford University.

It follows the friendship from its origin in Oxford through to Bhutto’s assassination in 2007, giving an insight into a life marked by tragedy, both personal and political. The evening promises to give a unique insight into Pakistan’s first female prime minister and the upheaval experienced in the newly-formed state as it oscillated between democratic elections and military rule.

When? Tuesday 8th December, 7:30 pm 
Where? This event will take place over Zoom. A link will be sent to you after registration.

Victoria Schofield is an historian and commentator on international affairs, with specialist knowledge and love of South Asia, having travelled widely in the region. She is acknowledged as one of the leading international experts on the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir. 

Her other books include Kashmir in the Crossfire (1996), Kashmir in Conflict: India, Pakistan and the Unending War (2000, 2002, 2010), Afghan Frontier: at the Crossroads of Conflict (2003, 2010), and Wavell: Soldier and Statesman (2006, 2010). She is the author of  the official two-volume history of The Black Watch: The Highland Furies, The Black Watch 1739-1899 (2012) and The Black Watch, Fighting in the Frontline 1899-2006 (2017) and a biography of the historian, Sir John Wheeler-Bennett,  Witness to History.

Schofield is a contributor to BBC World TV, BBC World Service and a variety of newspapers and journals. In 2004-05 she was the Visiting Alistair Horne Fellow at St Antony’s College, OxfordShe is currently Chair of the Oxford Union Literary and Debating Trust (OLDUT) and Chair of the Editorial Board of The Round Table, The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs.