From School Library Journal Grade 9 Up–Providing a detailed and current look at the nation, this volume opens with the area's history from 15th-century Mogul times up to Pakistan's creation in 1947. It then focuses on three major issues: disputed Kashmir and the costs of the resultant military competition and conflict with India; the role of Islam in the country's politics, especially as played out under the leadership of the various regimes; and demands for ethnic separatism. The figure given for deaths following the 1947 partition is incorrect, and Iran was not one of the countries formed after World War I from the demise of the Ottoman Empire. Otherwise, the thorough text seems accurate and clearly written. The dull format includes black-and-white, sometimes fuzzy photographs; boxed material; and an occasional map, with Peshawar misspelled on one and Sikh movement in 1947 impossible to determine on another. Despite the mentioned drawbacks, this title is a solid offering for report writers.
