Perfect Storm: The History and Anatomy of 26/11 - Softcover

Aloka, Prabhakar; Ravi, Nikhil

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0143475851 ISBN 13: 9780143475859

Publisher: Penguin Ebury Press, 2025

Synopsis

Perfect Storm is the untold, full account of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks—an operation that shook the world and paralyzed India’s financial capital for 60 terrifying hours.

On the night of November 26, 2008, ten men slipped into Mumbai by sea and launched one of the most audacious terrorist strikes since 9/11. But the story of this attack began decades earlier. It spans continents, ideologies, intelligence failures, geopolitical rivalries, and a network of characters whose motives intersected in deadly ways.

Drawing on meticulous research, Perfect Storm peels back every layer of this conspiracy—tracing its roots from the violence surrounding Pakistan’s birth in 1947, through the shifting power dynamics of the post-9/11 world, to the operational decisions made inside militant training camps and intelligence units.

With unparalleled insight into counterterror operations, former Intelligence Bureau officer Prabhakar Aloka brings decades of firsthand experience to the narrative. Co-author Nikhil Ravi, a screenwriter and filmmaker known for documenting Indo-Pak flashpoints, adds cinematic clarity and investigative depth.

Together, they reconstruct the spider’s web behind 26/11—from dusty training camps and radicalization pipelines to encrypted hacker dens in Southeast Asia—offering an unprecedented look into the anatomy of a state-sponsored terror attack.

This is the definitive story of 26/11. Told fully. Told clearly. Told at last.

About this title

About the Authors

Prabhakar Aloka has formerly worked with the Intelligence Bureau, the country's premier intelligence agency, with over 125 years of history. In nearly three decades of service in the bureau, where he was rigorously trained in covert operations while in pursuit of hostile elements, Aloka served in counterterror, counterinsurgency and anti-Naxalite theatres.

Nikhil Ravi studied Philosophy at the Manipal Centre for Humanities, and has co-written the Netflix Original Series, IC814: The Kandahar Hijack.

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin Ebury Press
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0143475851
• ISBN 13: 9780143475859
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256