“Roller Coaster: My Early Years” is an autobiography of Rao Rasheed. He started his career as lecturer but later he joined police service. He reached the highest rung of the federal bureaucracy in comparatively short time. In between, he did a five year’s stint in the diplomatic service and was a Counselor at the Pakistan High Commission in London. He was the late Zufiqar Ali Bhutto’s security czar during the turbulent years in the 1970’s. Rao Rashid is blessed with an unusually lucid analytical mind. “Roller Coaster” is his fourth book. It is an eye-witness account of South Asian history in the making. Rao Rashid memoirs are a recommended read for all students of Pakistan history and others who with to study how the striving for excellence coupled with a fighting spirit can surmount the obstacles of poverty and hardship.