One Drop of Blood:

The Story of Karbala

Ismat Chughtai, Translated by Tahira Naqvi

Women Unlimited, 440 pages, Rs 575

This is a new translation of the renowned Urdu author Ismat Chugtai’s final novel Ek Qatra-e-Khoon. A reimagining of the bloody Battle of Karbala, in 680 CE, it chronicles the life of Imam Hussain, Muhammad’s grandson, and his family and friends, as their small army clashed with the forces of the second Ummayad caliph, Yazid I.