Let’s be honest. If you've lived in Pakistan all your life and studied under the Matric system, you might feel you have heard enough of the glories of the Arabs. You've had to write glowing essays on the exploits of Muhammad Bin Qassim — he who conquered Sindh at the anguished plea of one slave girl. You've had to learn the achievements of Al Bairuni by heart and you have been told, time and again, that everything the world knows today was discovered by the Arabs.

So, why then, would you want to read The Arab World Thought of It?

Aimed at young readers, the book is part of series showcasing the achievements of different cultures. The one on the Arab world is authored by Saima S. Hussain.

A Pakistani by birth who grew up in the Middle East then went on to do her Masters in History from the University of Toronto, Hussian manages to make, what could have been a boring litany of facts, educational, informative, and even entertaining. Though many of us probably already know, in a vague and general way, that Arabs were pioneers in the field of mathematics, astronomy and medicine, Hussain gives us specifics such as to who built the world’s first observatory, the first library and the person who made the first recorded attempt at flight.

Instead of pages of text extolling the exploits of Qasim Al – Zahrawi (also known as the ‘father of modern surgery’) we get short boxes, each focusing on a specific innovation. Quick to read, easy to assimilate.

But don’t be fooled by the concise text; each box is obviously the result of tons of research, distilled down to deliver short, snappy snippets of information, from the serious, like methods of warfare, to the frivolous: did you know that Arabs invented the concept of three-course-meals?

Nor does Hussain remain trapped in the glory of the past; the modern Arab world with its predilection for the tallest sky scrapers and biggest malls also get page time as do celebrities of Arab origin, and not just the Muslim Arabs. The fact that Hussain manages to imbue the book with a purely objective, non-religious tone is a remarkable feat considering that for most of the world the word Arab is synonymous with Muslim and Islam — and not always in a positive way.

The layout is modern and ideally geared to draw in the young readers it is targeting. A book that invites you to dip in rather than binding you to read from cover to cover, The Arab World Thought of It is certainly an attractive and enticing way to learn history. I only wish we could have had this instead of our boring tomes on the Muslim conquest of Sindh.

Published in the USA, the book is not currently available in Pakistan.