A Short History of Pakistan is an edited book published by University of Karachi Press and comprises four volumes. The book is edited by Prof Ishtiaq Hussain Qureshi and provides a comprehensive account of the history of the Pakistan region and its people from the prehistory leading to the creation of Pakistan and East Pakistan which then became Bangladesh. Complete set of four volumes are sequentially titled as, Book One: Pre-Muslim Period by Ahmad Hasan Dani; Book Two: Muslim Rule under the Sultans by M. Kabir; Book Three: The Mughul Empire by Sh. A. Rashid; and, Book Four: Alien Rule and the Rise of Muslim Nationalism by M. A. Rahim et al. This book is significant as probably the first serious attempt to paint an overall picture of the early history of Pakistan region. Given that the book deals with periods of history prior to the creation of Pakistan, it has been described as, point of fact, a history of the northern part of the entire Indian subcontinent with special emphasis on the region that presently is Pakistan. Some of the essays have been criticised by peer reviewers as being insufficiently objective about relations between Indian Muslims, Hindus and the British political classes. Preamble At the preface, I H Qureshi addresses the common question as to whether it is possible to disentangle the history of Pakistan from the history of India. He maintains that although for certain periods Pakistan shares common history with modern day India, there are periods of regional history with local significance that were actually dominated by the events outside the South Asia, especially in Central Asia and Iranian plateau. There have also been times when the region actually became arbiter of the South Asia's historical destiny. Critiques on four volumes Book One: Pre-Muslim Period by A.H. Dani Critique by Arthur Llewellyn Basham: Author of the first volume, Prof A. H. Dani is not only an expert archaeologist and prehistorian, but also an able Sanskrit scholar with a very important study of Indian palaeography to his credit. Its interest for the non-Pakistani reader lies chiefly in the attempt to find common factors in the ancient culture of what is now Pakistan. Although a great treasure of ancient Buddhist artefacts is discovered, no significant specimen of Mauryan Empire and Mauryan art is to be found in Pakistan. Gupta Empire also had little influence here. The book has been