In March 1971, the military in East Pakistan launched the suicidal attack which was to lead, over nine long months, to the collapse of military strength and civil society in the region. As chief of Inter Services Public Relations and press advisor to both the president and chief martial law administrator, Abdul Rehman Siddiqi was in a position to observe and analyse the developing tragedy in both public and political circles. His account of this traumatic episode is refreshingly free from polemic, observant and candid.