Pakistan in the Twentieth Century analyses both the vision and the reality of a South Asian polity. Beginning with an examination of the people and forces that shaped the construction of an independent and predominantly Muslim state within the subcontinent, this historical study describes the events and the work of the many personalities who influenced Pakistan's development in the fifty years following the transfer of power. The reality of the Pakistan of today differs markedly from the vision of the Pakistan of yesterday. Pakistan was ill-defined at the time of independence, and as it approaches the twenty-first century, its history suggests it remains an inchoate nation.

Lawrence Ziring (1928-2015) devoted more than forty years to the study of Pakistan. A former President of the American Institute of Pakistan Studies, and Chairman of the Pakistan Studies Development Committee of the Association for Asian Studies, he also served as Director of Development Administration Programmes and Professor of Political Science at Western Michigan University. 

This book by a leading scholar is the definitive history of Pakistan. Beginning with an examination of the people and forces that shaped the construction of an independent, predominantly Muslim state within the subcontinent, Ziring provides an incisive and comprehensive description of the events that influenced Pakistan's development in the subsequent fifty years.

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN-10: 0195792769
• ISBN-13: 9780195792768
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 658