Anthologies#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Media, Politics, and Culture: A Socialist View |
1979 |
Buy |
| 21 Picador Authors Celebrate 21 Years of International Writing |
1993 |
Buy |
| Anti-Imperialism: A Guide to the Movement |
2003 |
Buy |
| Louder than Bombs: Interviews from The Progressive Magazine |
2004 |
Buy |
| PEN America Issue 6: Metamorphoses |
2005 |
Buy |
| Political Awakenings: Conversations with History |
2010 |
Buy |
| The European Fall |
2013 |
Buy |
Islam Quintet Reading Order#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| A la sombra del granado |
1992 |
N/A |
| Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree |
1992 |
Buy |
| The Book of Saladin |
1998 |
Buy |
| The Stone Woman |
2000 |
Buy |
| A Sultan in Palermo |
2005 |
Buy |
| Night of the Golden Butterfly |
2010 |
Buy |
Non-Fiction#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| The Thoughts of Chairman Harold |
1967 |
Buy |
| The New Revolutionaries: A Handbook of the International Radical Left |
1969 |
Buy |
| Pakistan |
1970 |
Buy |
| Class Struggle in Bangladesh |
1971 |
N/A |
| The Coming British Revolution |
1972 |
Buy |
| Chile |
1974 |
Buy |
| 1968 and After |
1978 |
Buy |
| The Stalinist Legacy |
1980 |
Buy |
| Can Pakistan Survive |
1983 |
Buy |
| Who’s Afraid of Margaret Thatcher? |
1984 |
Buy |
| An Indian Dynasty |
1985 |
Buy |
| The Nehrus and the Gandhis |
1985 |
Buy |
| President Nyerere in Conversation with Darcus Howe and Tariq Ali |
1986 |
Buy |
| Street-Fighting Years |
1987 |
Buy |
| Revolution from Above / Time to Bury Lenin |
1988 |
Buy |
| 1968 |
1998 |
Buy |
| Masters of the Universe? NATO’s Balkan Crusade |
2000 |
Buy |
| The Clash of Fundamentalisms |
2002 |
Buy |
| The American Effect |
2003 |
Buy |
| Bush in Babylon |
2003 |
Buy |
| Speaking of Empire and Resistance |
2005 |
Buy |
| Conversations with Edward Said |
2005 |
Buy |
| Rough Music |
2006 |
Buy |
| Dictatorship of Capital: Politics and Culture in the 21st Century |
2006 |
N/A |
| The Leopard and the Fox |
2006 |
Buy |
| Pirates of the Caribbean |
2006 |
Buy |
| The Declarations of Havana |
2007 |
Buy |
| A Banker for All Seasons |
2007 |
Buy |
| The Duel: Pakistan on the Flight Path of American Power |
2008 |
Buy |
| The Assassination |
2008 |
Buy |
| The Idea of Communism |
2009 |
Buy |
| The Protocols of the Elders of Sodom |
2009 |
Buy |
| The Obama Syndrome: Surrender at Home, War Abroad |
2010 |
Buy |
| Kashmir |
2011 |
Buy |
| The Trials of Spinoza |
2011 |
Buy |
| On History: Tariq Ali and Oliver Stone |
2011 |
Buy |
| The Extreme Centre: A Warning |
2015 |
Buy |
| The Dilemmas of Lenin: Terrorism, War, Empire, Love, Revolution |
2017 |
Buy |
| Uprising in Pakistan: How to Bring Down a Dictatorship |
2018 |
Buy |
| The Forty-Year War in Afghanistan: A Chronicle Foretold |
2021 |
Buy |
| Winston Churchill: His Times, His Crimes |
2022 |
Buy |
| A Conversation with Ernest Mandel: Early Life and Late Politics |
2023 |
Buy |
| The Lenin Scenario |
2024 |
Buy |
| You Can’t Please All: Memoirs 1980-2024 |
2024 |
Buy |
Plays#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Iranian Nights |
1989 |
Buy |
| Consequences: The Dramatic Consequence of an Intriguing Theatrical Game |
1991 |
Buy |
| Necklaces |
1992 |
Buy |
| Moscow Gold |
1993 |
Buy |
| Ugly Rumors |
1998 |
N/A |
| Collateral Damage |
1999 |
Buy |
| Snogging Ken |
2001 |
Buy |
| The Illustrious Corpse |
2004 |
Buy |
| The New Adventures of Don Quixote |
2014 |
Buy |
Standalone Novels#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Redemption |
1990 |
Buy |
| Fear of Mirrors |
1998 |
Buy |
Writers & Readers Documentary Comic Reading Order#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Cuba for Beginners |
1970 |
N/A |
| Marx For Beginners |
1976 |
Buy |
| Introducing Marx |
1976 |
N/A |
| Introducing Lenin and the Russian Revolution |
1977 |
N/A |
| Introducing Trotsky & Marxism |
1980 |
Buy |
| Einstein for Beginners |
1979 |
N/A |
| Leon Trotsky |
1980 |
Buy |
| Introducing Freud |
1979 |
N/A |
| Capitalism for Beginners |
1981 |
Buy |
| Mao for Beginners |
1980 |
N/A |
| Darwin for Beginners |
1982 |
Buy |
| Trotsky for Beginners |
1980 |
Buy |
| Orwell for Beginners |
1984 |
Buy |
| Reagan for Beginners |
1984 |
Buy |
| Nicaragua for Beginners |
1984 |
Buy |
| The U.N. for Beginners |
1995 |
Buy |
| MARX’S CAPITAL FOR BGN |
1982 |
N/A |
| I Ching for Beginners |
1996 |
Buy |
| Jung for Beginners |
1997 |
Buy |
| Shakespeare for Beginners |
1997 |
Buy |
| Black History for Beginners |
1984 |
N/A |
| Adler for Beginners |
1998 |
Buy |
| Dante for Beginners |
1999 |
Buy |
| Buddha For Beginners |
2015 |
Buy |
| Black Panthers For Beginners |
2015 |
Buy |
| Zen for Beginners |
1986 |
N/A |
| Plato for Beginners |
1990 |
N/A |
| World War II for Beginners |
1991 |
N/A |
| Philosophy for Beginners |
1992 |
N/A |
| Arabs & Israel for Beginners |
1993 |
N/A |
| Black Women for Beginners |
1993 |
N/A |
| Foucault for Beginners |
1993 |
N/A |
| Heidegger for Beginners |
1994 |
N/A |
| The Black Holocaust for Beginners |
2021 |
Buy |
| Clowns for Beginners |
1995 |
Buy |
| Structuralism & Poststructuralism for Beginners |
1997 |
N/A |
| Chomsky for Beginners |
1996 |
N/A |
| Derrida for Beginners |
1982 |
N/A |
| Lacan for Beginners |
1997 |
N/A |
| McLuhan for Beginners |
1997 |
N/A |
| Postmodernism for Beginners |
2007 |
Buy |
| Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy for Beginners |
2000 |
N/A |
Tariq Ali has worked across fiction, non-fiction, drama, and political commentary for more than five decades. Born in Lahore, Pakistan, and based in London, he became a prominent figure in the 1968 protest movements and has remained an active political voice ever since. His Islam Quintet — five historical novels beginning with Shadows of the Pomegranate Tree (1992) — traces Muslim civilizations across centuries and continents, from the fall of Islamic Spain to the modern subcontinent.
His non-fiction catalog exceeds 40 books covering revolution, imperialism, religion, and contemporary politics, from early works like Pakistan (1970) and The Coming British Revolution (1972) through recent titles like Winston Churchill: His Times, His Crimes (2022). He has also written plays, edited the New Left Review, and contributed to the Writers & Readers documentary comic series, which made complex thinkers and subjects accessible to general audiences. Ali’s output reflects a career dedicated to connecting historical analysis with political engagement.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many books has Tariq Ali written?
Tariq Ali has written 110 books across six series.
What was Tariq Ali's first book?
Tariq Ali’s first book is The Thoughts of Chairman Harold, published in 1967.
What is Tariq Ali best known for?
Tariq Ali is known for the Islam Quintet, five historical novels spanning Muslim civilization from medieval Spain to modern Pakistan. He is equally recognized for his political non-fiction, including The Clash of Fundamentalisms (2002) and Street-Fighting Years (1987), and his role as a prominent left-wing intellectual and activist since the 1960s.