M. J. Akbar is the editorial director of India Today and Headlines Today and editor of the Sunday Guardian. He is also an internationally published columnist and has authored several books, including India: The Siege Within: Challenges to a Nation’s Unity, Nehru: The Making of India, Riot after Riot, Kashmir: Behind the Vale, The Shade of Swords: Jihad and the Conflict between Islam and Christianity, Byline, and Blood Brothers. Tinderbox is his first book to be published in the United States. He lives in Delhi.