The subject of this review is Hassan Abbas's book, Pakistan's Drift into Extremism: Allah, the Military, and America's War on Terror (Pentagon Press, 2005) . At the time of writing this book, he was a doctoral student at Tufts University (USA), a visiting scholar at Harvard Law School and had served in the government of Pakistan for ten years during the administrations of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and of the president. Musharraf. This book examines the rise of religious extremism in Pakistan and analyzes its links to the Pakistan Army Police and the fluctuating relations between the United States and Pakistan. The author includes a detailed history of the various governments of Pakistan, much of which only vaguely supports the subject of the book. This review focuses on the chapter-by-chapter timeline of historical periods and events as Abass covers them. Chapter 1: Introduction Abbas writes in introduction about the history of Islam on the subcontinent, beginning with Mohammad bin Qasim, an Arab general who conquered part of Sindh. He then talks about the Muslim conquerors of the north: the Central Asians, the Afghans and the Persians. Sufis (mystical saints) also played a vital role in the spread of Islam in the subcontinent. Further, Abbas explains that Muslims are behind in political development. In 1885, the Indian National Congress was a Hindu-dominated party. Abbas said Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Pakistan's founding father, was a Muslim primarily by birth and loyalty, and in all other respects he was more British than British. He was not particularly in favor of independence, but he was also aware that India's Muslims were far too backward compared to the Hindu majority and needed safeguards to protect Muslims from exploitation , while the British wanted to know... middle of paper. ......y different fabric.ConclusionReading this book was an eye-opening experience. I found the rich historical details as fascinating as the intended purpose of the book. He covered so much about Pakistan's history that I wasn't aware of before. A very informative book. Abbas's writing style was also interesting and easily readable: a narrative style. It is worth noting that the story he tells is limited to events that support Pakistan's drift toward extremism. Topics that particularly interested me included discussions on the following: 1- Jinnah's shift in position from a unified India to a separate homeland. 2- The problems the choice of Urdu language as the national language was created.3- That General Zia was given a warning before boarding the deadly plane.4- General Zia made the Kashmir issue a central question for Pakistani foreign policy..