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Customer Reviews (8)

Not for Scholars or students
The authors are self-proclaimed specialists on Afghanistan. Their idea of going to Afghanistan is a two week jaunt there staying in five star hotel, no different than the journalists they criticize. They claim to have spoken to 'real' Afghans about the war yet use quotes superficially and loosely to make them seem more involved and different than other journalists than they actually are. They are no different from the other journalists- they have made a career off Afghanistan- particularly Kolhatkar. The writing is elementary and unsophisticated, the analysis nothing Ahmed Rashid and others have not done before. Nothing original or insightful. Not academic at all. I m quite left leaning myself but this is not scholarship or research but blatant self promotion.

Harmfully misleading
Through my thesis research, this is about the 20th book on Afghanistan I've read over the last 6 months and I found it to be comparatively poor. As a work of activism, it's fairly run of the mill "this is all America's fault" stuff (I'm Canadian btw). As an academic or historically informative work, it glosses over important and complex points, and quotes out of context where these devices serve its purpose.

:(
I read 5 pages before the hatred steaming off the author through his words made me put it down

Please don't let this book "inform" your view on US/Afghan relations...
This book simply does not present a balanced perspective on the history of US involvement in Afghanistan.I defy the authors to claim that they began to research this book without a very specific thesis regarding the supposed culpability of the United States for all that is wrong in Afghanistan.

For a well-researched and very balanced perspective on US activities in Afghanistan read Steve Coll's Ghost Wars and spare yourself the largely illogical rant presented in this book.I wish I had... my eyes hurt from rolling so much.

Afghan suffering
The book raises important moral and ethical problems for US supporting fundamentalists in the fight against communism during the cold war, and later using the same fractions for fighting the Taliban. The authors' good knowledge on what's going on in Afghanistan shows how the civilian population has suffered during 30 years of war, and how they continue to suffer.The rest of the book including coverage of US policies in general, western imperialism, racism, and media conspiracies are less founded in real facts. To exemplify they try to prove western racism by presenting statistics of media coverage of the Bosnian conflict compared the lack of media coverage of the Afghan civil war.Omitting to add the failed intervention in Somalia, the following genocide in Rwanda, and shadow that WWI and WWII genocides lay over the Balkan conflicts - shows just short of astounding narrow perspectives by the authors.If you can look past the traditional anti western rhetoric, there are still Afghan voices in the book that deserves to be heard. ... Read more

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Many of Afghanistan's security problems are related to poppy growing, opium and heroin production, and drug trafficking. This book argues that the future success of state building in Afghanistan depends on lessening its dependence on opium and enhancing its economic status. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Stationed in Kabul and everything in the book is true
I am a U.S. citizen currently working in Kabul, Afghanistan. Reading this book I have found that the data and the articles are from the 2006 timeframe but they still apply. Here it is 2009 and the struggle to bring stability (peace), an end to corruption, an end to the poppy / narco-trade, and a helping develop a strong Afghan government are still the issues of the day. Whether to enable the government, even though much of corruption has found its way there, or to use International agencies is still the valid. How to enable the Afghanistan people to provide all this for themselves with International agencies / armies only providing training, assistance (money and military presence - but only as a backup) is still being worked and policy is being developed. This book provides insight what the issues are and how long they have been around.

A must read, providing insights and solution to the many problems plaguing Afghanistan
This book provides the insight needed to better understand the immense tasks that lay ahead of the international community and Afghanistan as they fight to rebuild this war torn country.Each chapter is written by a subject matter expert who frames the problem and potential solutions for such items as "Rebuilding a Robust Afghan Economy", "Regional Development in Greater Central Asia", "Responding to the Opium Dilemma", "The place of the Province in Afghanistan's Subnational Governance" and more.If you are military and deploying to the region this book coupled with Ghost Wars will really prepare you for your time in country.It was instrumental in my work and understanding the interaction with Provincial Reconstruction Teams and local governance. Plus it helped me understand the bigger picture. Building commerce through NGO's and GO's like USAID.The true importance of road networks and the devastating affects the Opium trade is having on the world and agricultural economy of Afghanistan.

A bit dry, but a good overview of Afghanistan's issues
This was a bit of a dry read but the opinions in it are very well reasoned. It covers a wide variety of issues on what Afghanistan needs to do in order to recover for the last three decades of war. It examines confronting the Taliban, dealing with the narco-economy, economic development and sub-national government. This is a great read for someone trying to get an overall sense of the issues and possible solutions. It is a collaboration of several authors, many of whom served in the Afghan government, so the authority of the sources is good. It takes an interesting tack for Afghanistan's development as more of a trading than manufacturing nation. The book also does a good job of looking at complexity of confronting the opium dilema.

An absolute "must-read" for anyone seeking the latest insights, perspective, and possible solutions
Building a New Afghanistan offers a host of essays from a diversity of learned contributors discussing the complex problem of rebuilding Afghanistan in the wake of the Taliban's severe occupation. Afghanistan today is riddled by security problems connected to poppy growing, opium and heroine production, and drug trafficking; Building a New Afghanistan offers creative and controversial alternatives to the current strategy of "immediate eradication", which has failed to produce satisfactory results. Individual essays include "Rebuilding a Robust Afghan Economy", "Regional Development in Greater Central Asia: The Afghan Pivot", "Responding to the Opium Dilemma", "The place of the Province in Afghanistan's Subnational Governance", and more. An absolute "must-read" for anyone seeking the latest insights, perspective, and possible solutions to Afghanistan's current quagmire. Highly recommended. ... Read more

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Arms Against Fury examines the dramatic struggle of the Afghan people through the lens of Magnum photographers, dating back to co-founder George Rodger's documentation of the country's role in World War II.Ever since, Magnum's intrepid photographers have crisscrossed the country's striking landscape from the Central Asian steppes to the parched southern desert by way of the Hindu Kush mountains surrounding Kabul and the adjacent Panjshir Valley.As early as the 1950s, Eve Arnold and Marc Riboud filed unprecendented stories from a legendary Shangri-la, showing a small kingdom struggling for statehood against the forces of underdevelopment and unfortunate geographic position during the Cold War.The ultimate overthrow of the monarchy and brutal liquidation of Afghanistan's consitutional government in 1978 heralded the arrival of Soviet-style communism.Peasants in Nuristan rebelled immediately and initiated a jihad that was covered first by Raymond Depardon and then by Stever McCurry, and later by renowned photojournalist Abbas, who also focused on the progress of the jihad, which eventually faced a massive Red Army invasion and savage aerial bombardments.The victory against the Soviets also signaled the beginning of a civil war that began in 1992.Documented by Luc Delahaye, Christopher Steele-Perkins, Abbas, and Stever McCurry, Afghan militias destroyed large swathes of Kabul.The Taliban militia subdued warring factions in 1996 and proclaimed an Islamic emirate.Steele-Perkins was one of the few journalists to report from Afghanistan during this period of theocratic tyranny.In the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States, the hated Taliban were shaken from power by a loose alliance of mujahidin backed by American forces.Yet nothing seemed to remedy the miserable spectacle of a ruined country littered with ten million land mines and thousands of innocent victims of the hi-tech war on terror.The future of Afghanistan, as depicted by Abbas, Eve Arnold, Luc Delahaye, Thomas Dworzak, Alex Majoli, Steve McCurry, and Francesco Zizola, remains uncertain at best. Containing additional photographic work by Ian Berry, Elliott Erwitt, Stuart Franklin, Philip Jones Griffiths, Susan Meiselas, and Wayne Miller, commentary by the photographers, and several illustrated essays, Arms Against Fury will become an indispensable reference for documentary studies, social history, and critical photography. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Afghanistan Photographs 1955-2001
Over 230 pages of hundreds of photographs taken throughout Afghanistan between 1955-2001.About equally divided between color and black&white photographs.The photos between 1980-2000 look eerily similar, despite the Russians moving in and out, with the Taliban moving in and out, and with the American soldiers arriving in 2001, nothing seems to have changed between these years: so much rubble. As there is little text, this is not an `educational' reference book.This is a collection of photographs taken by many different photographers of different nationalities who traveled through Afghanistan.There are only 2-3 photographs of dead Taliban soldiers, but nothing really gory that should keep it out of some junior high-library (although the color photo of a dead government soldier's bloated face on page 113 isn't for the faint-hearted).Few `battle-action' photos, no photos of the Taliban stoning women. The photograph showing a criminal chained to the prison floor (p. 223) reminded me of similar containment that I had seen in Haiti in 1993, and the photo of a crumbled-up painting of a nude female in the National Art Museum depicted the anti- `avant garde' morals of the Taliban government. Alas, these everyday-life photographs -- although they depict many country and city-street scenes of war amputees, destroyed homes, and impoverished women and children -- cannot capture the heat, the cold, nor the dustiness of the country. Nary a scenic photo anywhere.I had correspondence with the last Afghanistan king back in the early 1960s, I'm sure he would have been extremely saddened with these photographs in seeing how ravaged his country became during the last quarter of the Twentieth Century. ... Read more

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When the Soviet Union pulled its forces out of Afghanistan, the American media had a simple explanation: Soviet troops had been hounded out of the mountains by U.S.-armed guerrillas--the skies cleared of Soviet aircraft by Stinger missiles--until the Kremlin was forced to cry uncle. But Diego Cordovez and Selig S. Harrison shatter this image. Out of Afghanistan shows that the Red Army was securely entrenched when the Soviet Union agreed to withdraw: American weaponry and Afghan bravery raised the costs for Moscow, but it was six years of skillful diplomacy that gave the Russians a way out.

Cordovez and Harrison provide the definitive account of the Soviet blunders that led up to the invasion and the bitter struggles over the withdrawal that raged in the Soviet and Afghan Communist parties and the Reagan Administration. The authors are particularly well-suited to their task: Cordovez was the United Nations mediator who negotiated the Soviet pullout, and Harrison is a leading South Asia expert with four decades of experience in covering Afghanistan. Their story of the U.N. negotiations is interwoven with a gripping chronicle of the war years, complete with palace shootouts in Kabul, turf warfare between rival Soviet intelligence agencies, and the CIA role in building up Islamic fundamentalist guerrilla leaders at the expense of Afghan moderates. Cordovez opens up his diaries to take us behind the scenes in his negotiations, and Harrison draws on interviews with Mikhail Gorbachev, former Secretary of State George Shultz, and other key actors. The result is a book full of surprises. For example, the authors demonstrate that the Soviets intervened not out of a desire to drive to the Indian Ocean, but out of a fear of a U.S.-supported Afghan Tito. Rebuffs by hardline "bleeders" in the Reagan Administration undermined efforts by Yuri Andropov to secure a settlement before his death in 1983. Even more startling, Gorbachev resumed the search for a negotiated withdrawal more than a year before the first American-supplied Stinger missiles were deployed in the war.

The Soviet intervention in Afghanistan was one of the pivotal events of recent history. Out of Afghanistan destroys many of the myths surrounding the Afghan war and will have a profound impact on the emerging debate over how and why the Cold War ended.Amazon.com Review
In 1989, 10 years after invading Afghanistan, the last Soviet troopswere pulled out under the terms of accords signed in Geneva. This book givesthe inside story of the negotiations, with alternating chapters written byDiego Cordovez, the principal United Nations negotiator, and by Selig S.Harrison, an American specialist in Asian affairs. They tell of anopportunity for a constructive peace disastrously missed. The United States,holding all the cards, chose to oppose a Soviet offer of installing aninterim regime headed by the deposed Afghan monarch, Zahir Shah, in favor ofcontinuing to back their favored factions. In the game of superpowerbrinkmanship no attention was paid to the fact that those factions wereIslamists fundamentally opposed to America. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

This book is full of surprises
Reviewed by LUBOMIR REHAK in International Relations,Volume XIII, No 2, August 1996 -

This is probably the most comprehensive volume written about the events which might be considered a landmark in contemporary history. Diego Cordovez, who served as Under Secretary-General for special Political Affairs of the United Nations from 1981 to 1988, recounts the negotiating process that eventually brought about the peace settlement and the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. He is doing it as an insider. It was his mission which, in the end, brought about a solution to a crisis defined by Mikhail Gorbachev as a `bleeding wound'. Mr. Cordovez' narrative, based wholly on his personal notes and on earlier unpublished documentary sources, is therefore mostly reliable and accurate and is extremely useful for researchers and practitioners of international relations.
As well as being a professional diplomat par excellence, Diego Cordovez is also a fine writer. His co-author, Zelig Harrison, is a professional journalist - for many years he was foreign correspondent for the Washington Post specializing in Asian affairs. He introduces a valuable outside viewpoint. Harrison, however, is not a complete outsider since his analysis of events is based on personal interviews with virtually all the key political actors. He also acquaints the readers with some earlier unknown documents (in particular, from the so-called `secret file' of the Soviet Communist Party's Politburo) which shed light on the motives of policy formulation that lay behind the decisions taken in Kabul, Islamabad, Moscow and Washington. The authors' account stretches beyond the chronological framework of the actual negotiations which started in 1982 and ended with the signing of the Geneva accords on 14 April 1988. This approach would seem to be justified since it is events in Afghanistan and in the USSR leading up to the Soviet military intervention in December 1979 which account for at least some of the subsequent peculiarities of Soviet and Afghan behaviour at the negotiating table. The authors convincingly dispel the notion that the purpose of the Soviet invasion was to seize control of the Persian gulf using Afghanistan as a spring-board. That was the belief of an influential part of the US political establishment at that time (in particular, of President Carter's national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinsky). In reality the main reason for the invasion was simpler and more traditional. As a result of authoritative accounts from competent witnesses and judging from recently disclosed documents, the Russians were greatly and justifiably afraid that the then Afghan communist leader Hafizullah Amin would betray them and become an American-supported Afghan Tito on their borders. They therefore acted consistently with their age-old fear of hostile encirclement. This partly explains why the Soviets began sending signals of their desire for a negotiated settlement as early as the first months of their stay in Afghanistan.
The book is full of surprises. The authors clearly demonstrate that there existed a real chance to secure a peaceful settlement in 1983-84, under Yuri Andropov's tenure as the Soviet Communist Party's General Secretary. This chance they believe to have been undermined by hawks in the Reagan administration, firstly by CIA Director William Casey. With his single-minded focus on building up weapons aid to the Afghan resistance, Casey looked on the UN negotiations as a Soviet propaganda ploy. The unease in relations between the Soviet and Afghan leaderships, especially at crucial moments in the negotiations, is another surprise of the book. Stereotypical media accounts led us to think of Babrak Karmal as no more than a Soviet puppet. However the authors refer to a number of instances bearing witness to the fact that Karmal, and his successor Najibullah, not infrequently demonstrated a high degree of independence from Moscow. They effectively managed to impede the negotiating process and, later, to block the formation of a broad coalition government which was in principle endorsed by Moscow. Another widespread assumption - that it was the introduction of Stinger missiles which eventually forced Moscow to agree to the sign peace accords - is convincingly rebuffed by both authors. In fact the Red Army was securely entrenched when the Soviet Union agreed to withdraw. American weaponry certainly raised the ante for Moscow but it was not a crucial factor. Gorbachev's determination to end the Soviet Union's military involvement, and six years of skilful diplomacy were the primary factors which gave the Soviets a face-saving way out.
The chapters which Diego Cordovez devotes to dramatic episodes in the eleven rounds of proximity talks in Geneva between the Afghan and Pakistani Foreign Ministers, the accounts of his innumerable shuttles between Moscow, Kabul, Islamabad, New York and Geneva, as well as commuting to the different areas of Geneva where the Afghans and the Pakistanis lived, and even walking through the different rooms of Palais des Nations, are fascinating. Each step forward, however small, demanded months of hard labour on the part of Mr. Cordovez and his team. It also required the utmost patience, knowledge and understanding of their interlocutors' affairs, of their own and of their superiors' intentions, and even of their psychology, tastes and habits. The brilliance of Mr. Cordovez's diplomatic performance is indisputable and brings to mind one of François de Callières remarks that: `It is one of the greatest secrets of the art of negotiating, to know how to distill, as it were drop by drop, into the minds of those with whom we negotiate, the things which it is our interest they should believe'. Mr. Cordovez demonstrated an outstanding ability to distill into the minds of both the Afghans and Pakistanis, and the Russians and Americans, the idea of the profitability of peace despite the unfavourable circumstances with which he was confronted at virtually every stage of the negotiations.
The situation was desperate even on the eve of the final ceremony in Geneva when the documents had been finalized and were ready for signing and the consent of all parties involved had been received. At this stage the problem of symmetry concerning the termination of Soviet aid to Afghanistan and US aid to Pakistan and the Afghan resistance, not adequately reflected in the draft text, unexpectedly became the sticking point that could ruin the settlement. Basically, Moscow agreed to withdraw its forces in exchange for a simultaneous cut-off of US aid but did not consider it had any obligation to terminate its aid to Kabul. This caused strong dissatisfaction in Washington. The inventiveness of Diego Cordovez, his good contacts with both Russians and Americans as well as a sufficient degree of mutual confidence in relations between Moscow and Washington at the time luckily allowed the formulation of a joint position acceptable to both superpowers, though this was not formally included in the documents. In his final statement, after the signing of the Geneva accords on 14 April 1988, the US Secretary of State George Schultz spoke publicly about the compromise which had been reached. He pointed out that `the obligations undertaken by the guarantors are symmetrical'. `In this regard', he added, `the United States has advised the Soviet Union that the US retains the right, consistent with its obligations as a Guarantor, to provide military assistance to parties in Afghanistan. Should the Soviet Union exercise restraint in providing military assistance to parties in Afghanistan, the US similarly will exercise restraint.'
This book covers the wide range of factors which contributed to the Geneva accords and the withdrawal of Soviet troops which was one of the crucial events leading to the ending of the Cold War. The authors give due credit to Gorbachev and his colleagues in the Soviet leadership who carefully and skilfully prepared the ground for disengagement and endorsed UN peace efforts in the face of strong and agg ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

First rate ethnography, riveting reading
I ordered "Scorpion Tales" after seeing an advertisement for it in an academic catalogue. The book has a catchy title and I thought it might help me with my own research on drug issues. I received a complimentary copy and put in on the shelf. It was the middle of the semester and I had little free time and stacks of other books and articles to read.

One weekend, out of curiosity, I decided to browse the book. I was instantly hooked. I read it in two days. The author, David Macdonald, is an experienced sociologist and a fine story teller. General readers and academic specialists will find much of value in the book, especially in terms of drug issues and the history and culture of Afghanistan. Few other non-fiction books have provided such an earthy, fine-grained account of the human drama of drug use and abuse. I also learned much about the conflictive environment and history within which Afghans struggle to cope with poverty and suffering by cultivating, trading or consuming a wide variety of intoxicating substances.

Among the book's many virtues, I thought the "scorpion tales" motif/metaphor was very well-chosen. (I won't give away the punch line of the story, but suffice it to say that Afghanistan drug folklore is itself mind-bending). I also appreciated the way the author discusses many different drugs (not just opium and heroin) without reifying distinctions between legal, illegal, semi-legal, etc. The treatment of new emerging drug trends, involving some remarkable substances, is another contribution.Additionally, the book provides an even-handed discussion of policy dilemmas and problems (including U.S. responsibility for many of Afghanistan's troubles).

Scorpion Tales deserves a wide audience.

Howard Campbell, Ph.D.
El Paso, Texas (USA) ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (9)

Authors have created a fascinating, very readable book
The authors have created a splendid work.As amateur anthropologists, they have collected life histories from a number of individuals which illustrate rags-to-riches and back again to rags, marriage and divorce, etc., all against the backdrop of dramatic and drastic civil conditions.The underlying saga of the desire of the human spirit to seek to overcome and prevail over harsh conditions was quite moving.The stories illustrate how brutal the acts were of various players over the past decades, and how no side has been pure in the several decades of conflict.

It seems to me that as Americans we have a moral imperative to learn and understand Afghanistan, in order to comment rationally about our policy vis-a-vis that country.This book illustrated so many points about that country in its very human portrayal of those who participated in the oral history project.It was hard to put down.

Thoughtful and engaging
This book is a collection of page-turning and thought-provoking insights into the lives of men and women living in Afghanistan. Universal themes of romantic and familial love, loss and growth are explored through they eyes of individuals whose daily experiences starkly contrast to those of Americans. I found it extremely helpful in understanding some of the challenges facing people living in conflict situations. Additionally, I am grateful for the way this collection of stories humanized Afghanis for me in a way that the nightly news never could.

Eye-Opening
My husband recently deployed to Afghanistan and I found a peak of interest of the people there. Of course the only way I can do this is to read a book. I purchased this book and is one of three which I am reading in respect to Afghanistan. I really like this book because it has given me a close look into the people of Afghanistan. The love and respect these people have for their country is comparable to that of the U.S. How can we fault them for this? I think a big point of this story is some people can't see or understand the 'greener grass' of the other side. Even though some of the writing is brutally honest, I truly appreciate it. I didn't want a painted picture, I wanted the truth and I have found it in this book from the people first hand. I appreciate this book and those who contributed to this writing. Thank you.

I loved this book
This book gives amazing insight to anyone wanting to know more about Afghanistan from a personal perspective. It has several stories from women and men alike. Stories from men who served in the Taliban, the mujahadin and even a Soviet soldier turned mujahadin. Every story told stories of love, family and life as it happened during the many years of war this country has seen. Many stories made me cry, laugh and think. All were very touching and personal. I absolutely loved this book.

Thanks
Have not yet read book but am sure it will be very interesting.Your services are much appreciated since professionalism very much displayed in all areas. ... Read more

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Focusing on the case of the Hazaras, a population from central Afghanistan, the book shows how migration studies and transnationalism are at the heart of theoretical and methodological debates which animate anthropology. ... Read more

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Afghanistan has a long history of power shifts and civil unrest. The Taliban, a fundamentalist Islamic group, was simply another in a series of individuals and organizations who attempted to rule this war-torn country. This anthology details the conditions that gave rise to the Taliban. It also covers the conditions of the Afghani people under Taliban rule and the U.S.-lead war meant to oust them from power following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. (20020901) ... Read more

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For more than a quarter of a century, Afghanistan has been ravaged by war, drought, and famine. In this magnificent volume, Afghan-born photographer Zalmaï returns home after twenty-three years in exile to rediscover his homeland at a crucial moment of transition. Working in rich color, and frequently using a panoramic format that embraces the vastness of the sky and sand, Zalmaï immerses us in the ravaged landscape and the bustle of reconstruction. "My project tries to capture the resilience of a people who have rarely known peace, their optimism in the face of overwhelming odds and the very real worry that the country remains on a knife-edge and could easily slip back into a nightmare from which it is still trying to escape."Hardcover, 11.75 x 8.75 in./128 pgs / 91 color. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Return, Afghanistan
Extraordinary vibrant photographs that capture the essence of the Afghan people:their determination, strength and humanity.This book depicts images of Afghanistan that are rarely seen in the media.Zalmai is a true artist capable of highlighting the misery of human life juxtaposed against the beauty of the human spirit ... Read more

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Superb Military Study of Russian Campaign in Afghanistan
The conflict in Afghanistan is one from which the whole world must learn, The extensive media coverage that accompanied its every nuance was often dealing with the circumstances current at the time and was unable, of course, to view events retrospectively from the major turning point of the withdrawal of Soviet forces. In the first substantial study to be published since the Russians' departure, US military commentator David Isby provides the detail and analysis required to enable informed evaluation.

The war offered diverse experiences for all combatants. The Soviet Union became embroiled in anti-guerrilla action against a nation it knew to be of independent trait, when it had primarily trained its forces for major warfare in Europe. The Afghans found themselves fighting a hugely superior force that had total control of the air; the wholly irregular units of the Mujahadeen relied initially on primitive weapons and moral support from distant external friends rather than their own government.

The author has spent much time with the guerrillas observing Soviet action against them and their response to it. His assessment of the conflict brings the war into a sharper, more balanced focus for todays reader who wants to understand the course of the war; the reasons for the successes and failures: the wide differences between the logistic support received by the opposing forces: and the general circumstances in which the battle was waged.

if the Soviets failed to learn from history that their venture into Afghanistan would be fraught with problems and certain to be met by determined opposition, then studies such as this thought-provoking volume will enable a wide readership - both military and civilian - to use the value of hindsight and skilled commentary to avoid the same mistake.

In his chronological treatment, David Isby used many first-hand accounts and illustrates his pages with over 100 illustrations, many of which are published here for the first time. ... Read more

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With the exception of two short periods of direct British intervention during the Anglo-Afghan Wars of 1839-42 and 1878-80, the history of nineteenth-century Afghanistan has received little attention from western scholars. This study seeks to shift the focus of debate from the geostrategic concern with Afghanistan as the bone of contention between imperial Russian and British interests to a thorough investigation of the sociopolitical circumstances prevailing within the country. On the basis of unpublished British documents and works by Afghan historians, it lays the groundwork for a better understanding of the political mechanisms at work during the early Muhammadzai era by analysing them both from the viewpoint of the center and the pierphery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

North-West Frontier well explained.
Michael Barthorp's book on one of the most turbulent areas of the British Empire has been reissued in a very welcome and well produced volume.

There is ample detail on the Pathans, or Pushtuns as they are more normally now called, the actual inhabitants of this rugged area. The main tribal groupings and their principal tendencies are neatly summarised together with a clear mapping of the area. Illustrations, all contemporary, indicate the look of the areas in which actions were fought: by no means were all arid scrub! The political dimensions of the struggles book are deftly assessed with each of the major wars receiving a clear narrative account. It would have been appreciated for there to have been maps of individual actions, though the list of engagements suggests the inhibiting cost of such a provision.

The book may therefore be recommended as an excellent survey of the issues and actions of the period and place, covering the whole of the British Empire's connection with the Frontier. It is a reasanable and certainly accurate synopsis of the political ramifications whose complexity are daunting. ... Read more

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In the eight years since the launch of Operation Enduring Freedom, Afghanistan has rarely been out of the news. Over a thousand coalition military fatalities have been reported, and many times that number of Afghan civilians. The country is in the process of rebuilding, and yet the fighting continues. Following the success of his previous book, "Battlefield Afghanistan", Mike Ryan looks at the state of this war-ravaged nation as Barack Obama finally decides to escalate America's military presence. He considers the current role of coalition troops and the progress being made, or not being made - more than 100 British troops died in Afghanistan in 2009, the highest death toll for any year since the mission began in October 2001 - things are getting worse, not better. The author has unrivalled access not only to commanding officers, but also to the 'boots on the ground'. With more than 200 colour photographs and analysis of the situation from those actually doing the fighting, "Frontline Afghanistan" may help the reader to make up his or her mind about the legitimacy of the conflict and the possible way forward. 'This is a different kind of fight.We must conduct classic counterinsurgency operations in an environment that is uniquely complex. Our strategy cannot be focused on seizing terrain or destroying insurgent forces; our objective must be the population - Resources will not win this war but under-resourcing could lose it' - General Stanley McChrystal. 'Our backing of the Afghan government in its current form continues to distance the government from the people' - Matthew P. Hoh, former US Marine officer, resigning as senior American civilian representative in Zabul province, November 2009. As the death toll rises, who is right? "Frontline Afghanistan" provides a visual record of what is happening now plus the analysis of commanders in the field. It might help you to make up your mind. ... Read more

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This is a study of Mir Gholam Ghobar's well known history "Afghanistan in the Course of History.

The book is in Persian (Dari/Farsi). ... Read more

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This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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The English Translation of Afghanistan in the Course ofHistory, Volume Two--First Edition

This book which its original Persian version could not be published,due to the rampant despotism during the last thirty years inAfghanistan, covers the political history of the country during a verycrucial and eventful period- the second quarter of the 20th century.The roots of the very tragic and dismal current situation inAfghanistan can be sought in that period.

The roles of the people, despotic regimes, world powers, and thestruggle of the opposition intellectuals against despotism,regression, and modern imperialism are analyzed in depth in the book.

Note:
The first volume of Afghanistan in the Course of History, coveringAfghanistan from the beginning of the historical period to early 20thcentury, will be translated in English as soon as possible.This bookwas banned by the despotic government of Afghanistan when it was firstprinted in 1967 in Kabul.

Note:
There are many review articles printed in Persian newspapers inDari. However, since this book is just out of print in Englishlanguage for the first time, and not yet distributed to reviewsources, there are no written reviews about this English translationas of this date, known to me. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Personal feelings about Ghobar
Excerpts take from an email letter started by Afghans Solidarity
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MGM Ghobar's first book "Afghanistan dar massir e tarikh" is very informative, and it is widely considered a valuable history book written by an Afghan.His second book, however, is mostly based on his personal views.

As a political activist, he strongly opposed the government of Nadir shah, Hashim khan, Shah Mahmood Khan, and Daud Khan. His intentions, in his 2nd book, was to weaken and possibly topple those governments by generating a mass resentment towards the government. He was imprisoned for few year and sent to exile in southern part of Afghanistan. It is easy to sense throughout his book a feeling of revenge. He continuously concentrates on negative aspects of the government policies and actions.

This is an example of how a government used force to do injustice to its opposition and how an individual make use of pen to take revenge.

It important that we avoid getting caught in the fire and as a result form extreme opinions.

There is a good critique (in Farsi) by Negargar on MGM Ghobar's
second book.Negargar points out major differenced between Ghobar's 1st and 2nd book. He tries to prove that the 2nd book is not 100% Ghobar's writings. He thinks a lot has been added to his original writings.

Khalid Shalizi

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About the MGM Ghobar's book, I urge caution.Ghobar's first book "Afghanistan Daar Maseer'e Tarikh Vol 1", is one of the best history books available on Afghanistan.While I read the second volume with great interest (over a weekend) and found it deeply moving, I would like to point out that this volume is more of a personal journal, rather than a scholarly researched
history book.The story about "Charkhi" family is true, but as far as I know, noone has any stories that either supports or rejects any of the other ones, and since Afghanistan doesn't have many solid historians, this is as good as it will have to get for now.If EC members' disagree, I can take criticism OK, so I would love to hear other members' perspectives on this book.I should point out that Donya jaan Ghobar, MGM's daughter, is a (silent) member of AS.She is a physician, poet, writer, painter and sculptor, a pretty amazing woman.I have met Hashamt, the publisher and MGM's son, on a number of occasions and been to their house in VA.They are fantastic Afghans!

Farhad Ahad

The Man Behind the Epic: Mir Gholam Mohammad Ghobar
Excerpts from Lemar-Aftaab Magazine's Review

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The one major difference between the two was that Baihaqi was a historian whose writing served the court of the Ghaznavids kings.Ghobar was imprisoned by the government for writing truths and voicing his opinions. Whereas Baihaqi received golden treasures and prestige for writing history in favor of the royal court, Ghobar's unbiased writings prompted the ruling governing body to marginalize him and his family to live in fear of their lives from day-to-day.Ghobar has become a capstone for most historians who specialized on Afghanistan. Many Afghans came to realize his greatness after his death. Now, thousands of Afghans rely on Ghobar's writing style and content to learn important historical facts. Habibi (1984) puts Ghobar's contribution into perspective: "Ghobar's seal is cast on Afghan movements in the second half of the 20th century."

Since his writings were earth shattering, some envious and intransigents tried defaming and slandering him by mislabeling him into a certain way of thinking.The truth of the matter is that he was neither a right-wing fanatic nor a left-wing revolutionary. He was a progressive intellectual whose primary objective was to peacefully reform the system.

Ghobar had the patriotic ambition of reconciling Afghanistan's past, present, and future. He wrote: "Until the onslaught of Gengiz Khan, Afghanistan was the shining star of the Islamic world. Neither in cultural level nor in the stage of civilization had she any equal among the Muslim countries" (Gregorian, 1969, Page 22). Ghobar was a strong advocate of justice, civil liberties, and reforming the strict censorship policies. Afghanistan dar Masir-e Tarikh has been widely associated with the movement for a free press and none censorship.Just as activist intellectuals such King, Gandhi, Mandela, and even passivist intellectuals were being punished for exercising their civil rights, Ghobar also became a victim during the regime's informal intellectual apartheid, genocide, and exile campaign. Ghobar along with his brothers, his cousins were imprisoned in the jails of Saira-e Mothi in Kabul. Among the 16,000 captives, they were political prisoners from 1933 to 1935. From 1935 to 1942, they were sent to exile in Bala Baluk, Farah.

In 1952-1956, Ghobar again ended up as a political prison of the regime. Because he participated in a peaceful public protest urging democratic parliamentary elections. This time in prison he conceived the idea of writing the epic. Ghobar's book unveiled a whole world of state oppression, corruption, and criticized the extreme and sometimes brutal measures taken by the government.

During P.M. Maiwandwal in 1967, Ghobar's book was approved for publication. Since the monarchy did not permit private publication houses, the book was to be published in the government-publishing house located in Kabul. According to Wala (2000), Deparment Head for, Minister Benawa designated him to publish the book at the government-printing house. Major figures of Afghan literature oversaw his work and approved of it such as Ahmad Ali Kohzad, Ahmad Naimi, and Muhammad Gul-ab Nangahari. When the ruling elite replaced P.M. Maiwandwal, the book was officially announced banned during a meeting. The banning of the book without any legal or court process did not fair well with intellectuals.

Ghobar has been noted to say, "Legally, the history book I have written must be released. The government can then use its power to commission writers who can distort the facts and history of the past in response of my book."

Although initially printed by the government press, the ruling elite banned it. George Bernard Shaw put it best: "Censorship ends in logical completeness when nobody is allowed to read any books except the books nobody reads."

The government's biases against pedagogy resulted from fears that people will become socially literate, heighten their sense of social consciousness, and transform their situation and society. However, the government ignored that positive results cannot be expected from political repression, which fail to respect the particular view of the world held by the people.The rulers made empty promises ensuring justice and democracy, but behind the scene was law breaking and corruption. Conspiracy and plotting became common and innocent intellectuals were sent off to fill prison cells. They were individuals who only exercised their rights to speak and write and had not committed any crime. However, even without a case nor judgment against them, these intellectuals and their relatives spent years in the prison cells where they were subjected to all methods of torture.Ironically, it so happened that the place of patriotic and heroic intellectual was in prison and not in the governing bodies of the country. It was these infringements of civil liberties and censorship that were the main causes of the decay of the regime.

Early in 1978, after unsuccessful treatments resulted in his parting of this world in West Germany on February 18, 1978. Ghobar laid to rest in Shohada-e Saliheen.On his burial tablet it is written:Do not tell me to hold my tongue! Oh fate, there are still 1,000 unsaid passages running through my head.

Unlike other questionable intellectuals who have become entrepreneurs that give a slanted historical interpretation based on their ethnic, religious, regional incentives, Ghobar praises and criticizes all the players of the game.

Ghobar was a very learned person, whose research about the period prior to his lifetime was not only based on his knowledge but on vast archives. His book is first of its kind in that it is the most scholarly and scientific in format and content.After forty years, his book is still a popular reference piece among Afghans no matter wherever they lie along the political spectrum: "Books won't stay banned. They won't burn. Ideas won't go to jail. In the long run of history, the censor and the inquisitor have always lost. The only sure weapon against bad ideas is better ideas," Whitney Griswold.

Although Ghobar had to endure constant struggle and courage in the face of dire situations, today his eternal radiance shines like a heavenly star onto Afghanistan's literary and political society.

An astonishing account of Afghan History
I have read many books about Afghan History, written by notable Afghans and foreign writers, but none have equaled Ghobar's Book.Afghanistan in the Course of History captures the fear, helplessness, and despair that the people of Afghanistan had to endure under the Monarchy system.Ghober's vivid and chilling description of the prison cells, torture chambers, Nadir Shah's and his brother assassination, Execution of Abdul Khaleq, and the elimination of the famed Charkhi family is Spellbinding.

One has to marvel at the thoroughness with which Ghobar discusses not only the brutal Monarchy System, the British involvement, the campaign against the Monarchy and the British from within and abroad but the entire political and economic situation in Afghanistan. Ghobar's vivid descriptions of the brutal regime of Nadir and his brothers', the British interference and the Indian connection offered insights that I have read nowhere else.

This is the one book you need to read if you want to know what it was like to be an Afghan and live under the Monarchy system in Afghanistan. The description scenes are gripping and often heartbreaking.Once you have read this book, you'll understand why Afghanistan is in such a state of chaos today!

Afghanistan in the Course of History is a fascinating portrait of the Afghan History. I have read no other account of the Afghan history equal to this. Ghobar's groundbreaking revelation is a masterpiece. This is literature. ... Read more

Product Description
As the bloodshed in Iraq intensified in 2005, Afghanistan quickly faded from the nation's front pages to become the "other war," supposedly going well and largely ignored. In fact, the insurgency in Afghanistan was about to break out with renewed force, the drug problem was worsening, and international coordination was losing focus. That July, Ronald Neumann arrived in Kabul from Baghdad as the U.S. ambassador, bringing the experience of a career diplomat whose professional lifetime had been spent in the greater Middle East, beginning thirty-eight years earlier in the same country in which it ended--Afghanistan.

Neumann's account of how the war in Afghanistan unfolded over the next two years is rich with heretofore unexamined details of operations, tensions, and policy decisions. He demonstrates why the United States was slow to recognize the challenge it faced and why it failed to make the requisite commitment of economic, military, and civilian resources. His account provides a new understanding of the problems of alliance warfare in conducting simultaneous nation building and counterinsurgency. Honest in recounting failures as well as successes, the book is must reading as much for students of international affairs who want to understand the reality of diplomatic policymaking and implementation in the field as for those who want to understand the nation's complex "other war." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Ideal for Foreign Service Officers - But Not For Me
I picked this up prior to a work trip to Afghanistan to better understand the current political situation, nation-building and counterterrorism efforts.

The Ambassador has written an excellent case study for Foreign Service Officers, policy-makers, and those who want to understand the nuts and bolts of nation-building in Afghanistan.It should be required reading at the Foreign Service Institute for those assigned to Afghanistan.It chronicled the day to day decisions an Ambassador makes like how to allocate funding, mediate among tribal leaders and negotiate with Washington for resources.

However, for someone wanting a broad overview like me, it was a little too in the weeds. For a broader overview, I'm going to next try reading "In the Graveyard of Empires."

Key for any collection strong in Middle East history and culture
THE OTHER WAR: WINNING AND LOSING IN AFGHANISTAN provides a powerful account of the author's role as the U.S. ambassador who came to Kabul from Baghdad as the U.S. ambassador with a lifetime in the greater Middle East. His account of how the war there unfolded over the next two years considers politics, policies and social issues and pinpoints faults in the U.S. operations there, documenting failures as well as successes. Key for any collection strong in Middle East history and culture.

Afghanistan 2005-2007 U.S. Ambassador's Story
As the author noted in his book: "This book is a personal and not a scholarly account...it neither pretends nor claims to be an inside account of Washington policy deliberations" [p. xiii].Sadly, the author is forthrightly honest: the reader is not going to get much insight about any "dirt" about how the staffs of various U.S. agencies (State, the Pentagon, USAID) disagreed over policy goals while the author served as the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan(2005-2007).The author said that he wrote this book while referring to the letters that he had written to his wife.Like most letters written home by soldiers serving in a combat zone, they try to write `upbeat' letters - so as not to alarm their family members.This book is much like that: upbeat without much drama or trauma.But then, this ambassador-author is a diplomat after all.Throughout his book the ambassador recounts numerous problems of Afghanistan: a weak economy; the impact of hundreds of thousands of displaced refugees seeking both protection and employment; how warlords controlled the opium poppy-trade to fund either themselves or the opposing Taliban; the lack of electricity; the lack of roads for bringing farmers' products to town; the lack of an educated bureaucracy; the lack of a trained military - let alone the lack of sufficient numbers; among many other problems.From reading this book, while the author details his meetings with various international agencies (UN, WMF, IMF, USAID, the European Union, etc.) in seeking funds to rebuild Afghanistan, he doesn't present anything like a 35-page Power-Point Presentation in noting how various programs needed to be prioritized (as the author openly stated, his book isn't a `scholarly' accounting of the implementation of specific programs and their successes or failures).This book has more of your youthful `here is what I did during my summer vacation' paper you used to write in grade school, rather anything like a revengeful supermarket-tabloid article exposing the policy misdeeds of the Bush-Chaney-Rumsfield team of diverting attention away from Taliban-Afghanistan to pursue the overthrow of Saddam Hussain in Iraq.He mentions some of the problems with the Pakistani government in being `two faced' about its conflicting dual support of Pres. Karzai's government and the opposing Taliban (but doesn't go into details).Frustration, but not any really deep analysis of the international conflicts; sadly, even discussion of the border problem of the Durand Line is left to an endnote [p. 227].Yes, this is not a sugar-coated book of the ambassador defending his tour - he highlights many of his frustrations with the lack of either funding or White House support, but then, it is very disappointing to a reader who is seeking a back-stabbing, cat-claw scratching, shocking kiss-and-tell revelation of the disputes between the Embassy, State Dept., the Pentagon, and the White House (one gets hints, but no specific `name calling' - although the author did note that when Sec. of Defense Rumsfeld left office: "We shed no tears in Kabul" [p. 144]).A book better than what I have reviewed here. ... Read more