20 Best Books On Afghanistan (2023 Update)

Band of brothers meets argo in this dramatic and heartfelt dual memoir of the war in afghanistan told by two men from opposite worlds. always faithful entwines the stories of marine major tom schueman, and his friend and afghan interpreter, zainullah "zak" zaki, as they describe their parallel lives, converging paths, and unbreakable bond in the face of overwhelming danger, culminating in zak and his family's harrowing escape from kabul. in august of 2021, just days shy of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, america ended its longest war. the speed of the afghanistan's fall was so stunning that thousands of afghan citizens who had helped american forces over the course of two decades–and had been promised visas in return–were suddenly stranded, in extreme, imminent danger. as the world watched the shocking scenes of desperation at the kabul airport in the final two weeks of august, maj. tom schueman fought–both behind the scenes and through a social media campaign–to get his friend and former afghan interpreter, zak, out of afghanistan before he and his family were discovered by the taliban. when zak and his family finally took off from the airport mere days before the us left the country, the years-long effort to get zak to america culminated in two simple words on instagram: "wheels up." now in always faithful, tom and zak tell the full story of the divergent paths that led them to afghanistan, the dangerous road they walked together in service to america, and how their commitment to each other ended up saving them both. brilliantly told in tom's and zak's alternating first person voices, always faithful tracks the parallel lives of these two men who each spent their childhoods in fear, peril, and poverty, and turned to war in attempt to build a meaningful future. on an inevitable course towards each other, their lives dovetail in afghanistan's deadly helmand valley, where they formed a brotherhood that transcends even the most overwhelming of odds, eventually culminating in zak's harrowing, eleventh-hour rescue. the end result is an intensely personal and uniquely ground-level account of tom and zak's experience, always faithful gives readers a 360-degree view of the war. at once provocative and heart pounding, their stories together form a microcosm of the complicated and lasting effects of america's longest war.

A best book of the year: the economist, slate, kirkus reviewsin 1839, nearly 20,000 british troops poured through the mountain passes into afghanistan and installed the exiled shah shuja on the throne as their puppet. but after little more than two years, the afghans exploded into rebellion. the british were forced to retreat—and were then ambushed in the mountains by simply-equipped afghan tribesmen. just one british man made it through. but dalrymple takes us beyond the story of this colonial humiliation and illuminates the key connections between then and now. shah shuja and president hamid karzai share the same tribal heritage; the shah’s principal opponents were the ghilzai tribe, who today make up the bulk of the taliban’s foot soldiers. dalrymple explains the byzantine complexity of afghanistan’s age-old tribal rivalries, their stranglehold on politics, and how they ensnared both the british of the nineteenth century and nato forces today. rich with newly discovered primary sources, this stunning narrative is the definitive account of the first battle for afghanistan.

On a moonless night just weeks after september 11, 2001, u.s. special forces team oda 574 infiltrates the mountains of southern afghanistan with a seemingly impossible mission: to foment a tribal revolt and force the taliban to surrender. armed solely with the equipment they can carry on their backs, shockingly scant intelligence, and their mastery of guerrilla warfare, captain jason amerine and his men have no choice but to trust their only ally, a little-known pashtun statesman named hamid karzai who has returned from exile and is being hunted by the taliban as he travels the countryside raising a militia. the only thing worth dying for chronicles the most important mission in the early days of the global war on terror, when the men on the ground knew little about the enemy—and their commanders in washington knew even less. with unprecedented access to surviving members of oda 574, key war planners, and karzai himself, award-winning author eric blehm cuts through the noise of politicians and high-level military officials to narrate for the first time a story of uncommon bravery and terrible sacrifice, intimately exposing the realities of unconventional warfare and nation-building in afghanistan that continue to shape the region today.

“the story of what dakota did . . . will be told for generations.”—president barack obama, from remarks given at meyer's medal of honor ceremonyin the fall of 2009, taliban insurgents ambushed a patrol of afghan soldiers and marine advisors in a mountain village called ganjigal. firing from entrenched positions, the enemy was positioned to wipe out one hundred men who were pinned down and were repeatedly refused artillery support. ordered to remain behind with the vehicles, twenty-one year-old marine corporal dakota meyer disobeyed orders and attacked to rescue his comrades. with a brave driver at the wheel, meyer stood in the gun turret exposed to withering fire, rallying afghan troops to follow. over the course of the five hours, he charged into the valley time and again. employing a variety of machine guns, rifles, grenade launchers, and even a rock, meyer repeatedly repulsed enemy attackers, carried wounded afghan soldiers to safety, and provided cover for dozens of others to escape—supreme acts of valor and determination. in the end, meyer and four stalwart comrades—an army captain, an afghan sergeant major, and two marines—cleared the battlefield and came to grips with a tragedy they knew could have been avoided. for his actions on that day, meyer became the first living marine in three decades to be awarded the medal of honor. into the fire tells the full story of the chaotic battle of ganjigal for the first time, in a compelling, human way that reveals it as a microcosm of our recent wars. meyer takes us from his upbringing on a farm in kentucky, through his marine and sniper training, onto the battlefield, and into the vexed aftermath of his harrowing exploits in a battle that has become the stuff of legend. investigations ensued, even as he was pitched back into battle alongside u.s. army soldiers who embraced him as a fellow grunt. when it was over, he returned to the states to confront living with the loss of his closest friends. this is a tale of american values and upbringing, of stunning heroism, and of adjusting to loss and to civilian life. marines, and afghan soldiers who'd been abandoned and faced certain death. meticulously researched and thrillingly told, with nonstop pace and vivid detail, into the fire is the unvarnished story of a modern american hero.praise for into the fire “a story of men at their best and at their worst . . . leaves you gaping in admiration at medal of honor winner dakota meyer's courage.”—national review “meyer's dazzling bravery wasn't momentary or impulsive but deliberate and sustained.”—the wall street journal “[a] cathartic, heartfelt account . . . combat memoirs don't get any more personal.”—kirkus reviews “a great contribution to the discussion of an agonizingly complex subject.”—the virginian-pilot “black hawk down meets lone survivor.”—library journal

By 2008 chad rickard was a decorated multi-tour iraq war veteran with hundreds of combat missions under his belt. he was a seasoned infantryman and senior army nco with a burning desire to deploy to afghanistan and join the fight against taliban and al qaeda forces bent on keeping american influence out of the middle east. like many americans chad felt personally stricken by the attacks on 9/11 and he yearned to take part in his nation's retaliation for the atrocities planned within the sanctity of afghanistan's borders. when the opportunity arose to deploy as a combat advisor to an afghan infantry battalion he seized the opportunity and headed to fort riley, kansas to attend u.s. army combat advisor school. after months of intensive training in afghan customs, culture and language in addition to tactical training on the direction of close air support and artillery rickard was dropped into a hotbed of action in afghanistan's khost province. in khost, former home to one of osama bin laden's largest terror training camps, rickard's team went toe to toe with haqqani taliban on numerous occasions, often leaving a staggering body count in their wake. in mayhem 337, rickard powerfully recounts his experiences during a nine month period of intense combat deep in the mountains of eastern afghanistan. his graphic account guides you through intense combat from the streets of khost city, to deadly mountain warfare while based at an austere combat outpost. he vividly describes the sights and sounds of battle as well as the heartbreaking aftermath of fallen comrades. from ied laden roads to air assault missions and hostage standoffs, rickard's story leaves nothing to the imagination. his riveting memoir brings recognition and honor to the embedded transition team legacy that is but a footnote in u.s. military history.

A few bad men is the incredible true story of an elite team of u.s. marines set up to take the fall for afghanistan war crimes they did not commit—and their leader who fought for the redemption of his men.ambushed in afghanistan and betrayed by their own leaders—these elite marines fought for their lives again, back home. a cross between a few good men and american sniper, this is the true story of an elite marine special operations unit bombed by an ied and shot at during an afghanistan ambush. the marine commandos were falsely accused of gunning down innocent afghan civilians following the ambush. the unit’s leader, maj. fred galvin, was summarily relieved of duty and his unit was booted from the combat zone. they were condemned by everyone, from the afghan president to american generals. when fox company returned to america, galvin and his captain were the targets of the first court of inquiry in the marines in fifty years. “fred galvin is the real deal. his dramatic retelling of his experience as commander of fox company reads like a thriller, full of twists and turns, filled with unassuming heroes and deceitful villains.” — rob lorenz, producer/director, american sniper, flags of our fathers, letters from iwo jima, mystic river, the marksman “fred galvin has written a real ‘page turner’ that demonstrates how politics permeates the pentagon and posts abroad…i highly recommend this book.” — j.d. hayworth, u.s. gen. paul vallely, u.s. army (ret.), deputy commander, u.s. pacific command

A colossal history of afghanistan from its earliest organization into a coherent state up to its turbulent present. located at the intersection of asia and the middle east, afghanistan has been strategically important for thousands of years. its ancient routes and strategic position between india, inner asia, china, persia, and beyond has meant the region has been subject to frequent invasions, both peaceful and military. as a result, modern afghanistan is a culturally and ethnically diverse country, but one divided by conflict, political instability, and by mass displacements of its people. in this magisterial illustrated history, jonathan l. lee tells the story of how a small tribal confederacy in a politically and culturally significant but volatile region became a modern nation-state. drawing on more than forty years of study, lee places the current conflict in afghanistan in its historical context and challenges many of the west's preconceived ideas about the country. focusing particularly on the powerful durrani monarchy, which united the country in 1747 and ruled for nearly two and a half centuries, lee chronicles the origins of the dynasty as clients of safavid persia and mughal india: the reign of each ruler and their efforts to balance tribal, ethnic, regional, and religious factions; the struggle for social and constitutional reform; and the rise of islamic and communist factions. along the way, he offers new cultural and political insights from persian histories, the memoirs of afghan government officials, british government and india office archives, and recently released cia reports and wikileaks documents. he also sheds new light on the country's foreign relations, its internal power struggles, and the impact of foreign military interventions such as the "war on terror."

It has been said that afghanistan is the "graveyard of empires" with a history of 5,000 years. it is also said that it has just reached a hundred year's occupation of successive invasions by great britain, the soviet union and nato along with the united states of america. as a landlocked country, afghanistan is known as the "heart of asia" and has been a battlefield for the foibles of first-world countries for many decades. the stories in this book reveal the situations of the afghans throughout the last twenty-five years in a less than amicable environment. the reader will encounter the real meaning of afghanistan, which at times is not as civil as perceived by western views. it also shows the heart and soul of a country that invites everyone to love and be loved in return.

Since 2000, john weaver has been a flame on the front line sharing god's love in afghanistan. he serves as a team leader for shelter now, which has been helping afghans for over 25 years. john is the happy husband of jeanne, whom he met and married in afghanistan. "i saw john weaver for the first time in october 2001 on abc world news tonight with peter jennings. when john's face appeared on the screen, i knew there was something special about him. i could see it in his eyes, his smile, and his interaction with the afghan people." – franklin graham, president of the billy graham evangelistic association and samaritan's purse. journey from america to afghanistan is an invitation to step into an incredible adventure led by the sovereign king. the voyage features views of earthly struggles and saving grace; painful experiences and purposeful excursions; disappointing failures and dreams fulfilled. it also explores aspects of life in the islamic republic of afghanistan. this inspiring story is both enjoyable and unforgettable. join us inside… john and jeanne weaver, with their three sons, live and work as a family of flames. proceeds from this book support the work of shelter now afghanistan.

Rugged, remote, riven by tribal rivalries and religious violence, afghanistan seems to many a country frozen in time and forsaken by the world. afghan modern presents a bold challenge to these misperceptions, revealing how afghans, over the course of their history, have engaged and connected with a wider world and come to share in our modern globalized age.always a mobile people, afghan travelers, traders, pilgrims, scholars, and artists have ventured abroad for centuries, their cosmopolitan sensibilities providing a compass for navigating a constantly changing world. robert crews traces the roots of afghan globalism to the early modern period, when, as the subjects of sprawling empires, the residents of kabul, kandahar, and other urban centers forged linkages with far-flung imperial centers throughout the middle east and asia. focusing on the emergence of an afghan state out of this imperial milieu, he shows how afghan nation-making was part of a series of global processes, refuting the usual portrayal of afghans as pawns in the “great game” of european powers and of afghanistan as a “hermit kingdom.” in the twentieth century, the pace of afghan interaction with the rest of the world dramatically increased, and many afghan men and women came to see themselves at the center of ideological struggles that spanned the globe. through revolution, war, and foreign occupations, afghanistan became even more enmeshed in the global circulation of modern politics, occupying a pivotal position in the cold war and the tumultuous decades that followed.

A washington post best book of 2021 the #1 new york times bestselling investigative story of how three successive presidents and their military commanders deceived the public year after year about america’s longest war, foreshadowing the taliban’s recapture of afghanistan, by washington post reporter and three-time pulitzer prize finalist craig whitlock.unlike the wars in vietnam and iraq, the us invasion of afghanistan in 2001 had near-unanimous public support. at first, the goals were straightforward and clear: defeat al-qaeda and prevent a repeat of 9/11. yet soon after the united states and its allies removed the taliban from power, the mission veered off course and us officials lost sight of their original objectives. distracted by the war in iraq, the us military become mired in an unwinnable guerrilla conflict in a country it did not understand. but no president wanted to admit failure, especially in a war that began as a just cause. instead, the bush, obama, and trump administrations sent more and more troops to afghanistan and repeatedly said they were making progress, even though they knew there was no realistic prospect for an outright victory. just as the pentagon papers changed the public’s understanding of vietnam, the afghanistan papers contains “fast-paced and vivid” (the new york times book review) revelation after revelation from people who played a direct role in the war from leaders in the white house and the pentagon to soldiers and aid workers on the front lines. in unvarnished language, they admit that the us government’s strategies were a mess, that the nation-building project was a colossal failure, and that drugs and corruption gained a stranglehold over their allies in the afghan government. all told, the account is based on interviews with more than 1,000 people who knew that the us government was presenting a distorted, and sometimes entirely fabricated, version of the facts on the ground. documents unearthed by the washington post reveal that president bush didn’t know the name of his afghanistan war commander—and didn’t want to meet with him. secretary of defense donald rumsfeld admitted that he had “no visibility into who the bad guys are.” the afghanistan papers is a “searing indictment of the deceit, blunders, and hubris of senior military and civilian officials” (tom bowman, nrp pentagon correspondent) that will supercharge a long-overdue reckoning over what went wrong and forever change the way the conflict is remembered.

A washington post best book of 2021 the #1 new york times bestselling investigative story of how three successive presidents and their military commanders deceived the public year after year about america’s longest war, foreshadowing the taliban’s recapture of afghanistan, by washington post reporter and three-time pulitzer prize finalist craig whitlock.unlike the wars in vietnam and iraq, the us invasion of afghanistan in 2001 had near-unanimous public support. at first, the goals were straightforward and clear: defeat al-qaeda and prevent a repeat of 9/11. yet soon after the united states and its allies removed the taliban from power, the mission veered off course and us officials lost sight of their original objectives. distracted by the war in iraq, the us military become mired in an unwinnable guerrilla conflict in a country it did not understand. but no president wanted to admit failure, especially in a war that began as a just cause. instead, the bush, obama, and trump administrations sent more and more troops to afghanistan and repeatedly said they were making progress, even though they knew there was no realistic prospect for an outright victory. just as the pentagon papers changed the public’s understanding of vietnam, the afghanistan papers contains “fast-paced and vivid” (the new york times book review) revelation after revelation from people who played a direct role in the war from leaders in the white house and the pentagon to soldiers and aid workers on the front lines. in unvarnished language, they admit that the us government’s strategies were a mess, that the nation-building project was a colossal failure, and that drugs and corruption gained a stranglehold over their allies in the afghan government. all told, the account is based on interviews with more than 1,000 people who knew that the us government was presenting a distorted, and sometimes entirely fabricated, version of the facts on the ground. documents unearthed by the washington post reveal that president bush didn’t know the name of his afghanistan war commander—and didn’t want to meet with him. secretary of defense donald rumsfeld admitted that he had “no visibility into who the bad guys are.” the afghanistan papers is a “searing indictment of the deceit, blunders, and hubris of senior military and civilian officials” (tom bowman, nrp pentagon correspondent) that will supercharge a long-overdue reckoning over what went wrong and forever change the way the conflict is remembered.

By the author of destiny disrupted: an enlightening, lively, accessible, history of afghanistan from 1840 to today, from the afghan point of view, that illuminates how great power conflicts have interrupted an ongoing, internal struggle to take form as a nation.five times in the last two centuries, some great power has tried to invade, occupy, or otherwise take control of afghanistan. and as tamim ansary shows in this illuminating history, every intervention has come to grief in much the same way and for much the same reason: the intervening power has failed to understand that afghanistan has a story of its own, a story that continues to unfold between, and despite, the interventions. games without rules tells this story from the inside looking out. drawing on his afghan background, muslim roots, and western and afghan sources, ansary weaves an epic that moves from a universe of village republics–the old afghanistan–through a tumultuous drama of tribes, factions, and forces, to the current struggle. ansary paints a richly textured portrait of a nation that began to form around the same time as the united states but is still struggling to coalesce; a nation driven by its high ambitions but undermined by its own demons, while every forty to sixty years a great power crashes in and disrupts whatever progress has been made. a compelling narrative told in an accessible, conversational style, games without rules offers revelatory insight into a country long at the center of international debate, but never fully understood by the outside world.

A few short months removed from the events of 9/11, lt warner is a young reserve officer with a burning desire to serve. presented with the opportunity to do so in the new global war on terror, he jumps into his new assignment full blast, oozing with patriotism, a lot of cockiness, and not much of a plan. but soon enough he finds that his new normal will be clouded with uncertainty. new soldiers, new leadership, and a new geographic location are just the tip of the iceberg. as the rear cargo door of the plane lowers to reveal a pitch-black afghanistan night, the young leader encounters his first real challenge: simply leading the team off the airplane-over an airfield riddled with landmines. from there, 20-year letter follows lt warner throughout the entire undertaking, chronicling the bad, the terrifying, the stressful, and even a little bit of the good. his tale is a comprehensive perspective of everything that isn't glamorous about war.

On september 11. 2001 invaded afghanistan. the taliban government refused to hand over 'osama bin laden' whom the united states deemed responsible for 9/11 attacks. the war is traced from then till the end of 2021. george w. bush was president, he was instrumental in this decision. causalities in the 20-year war some 176,000. 46,000 civilians, 2,420 us, and 3.576 coalition. cost $8 trillion. on october 7. 2021 the war officially ended. in 2001 there were 45,000 taliban, in 2021, 90,000 and 50,000 support elements. the poem also has current events of 2021, and authors life. stephen sweigart is retired and works part time, after working forty years full time. he wrote a number of poetry books and traveled to europe. he lives in new jersey near philadelphia, in same house since 1985, and was born near there. his books number eleven.

From the award-winning co-author of 'i am malala', this book asks just how the might of nato, with 48 countries and 140,000 troops on the ground, failed to defeat a group of religious students and farmers? how did it go so wrong? twenty seven years ago, christina lamb left britain to become a journalist in pakistan. she crossed the hindu kush into afghanistan with mujaheddin fighting the russians and fell unequivocally in love with this fierce country of pomegranates and war, a relationship which has dominated her adult life. since 2001, lamb has watched with incredulity as the west fought a war with its hands tied, committed too little too late, failed to understand local dynamics and turned a blind eye as their taliban enemy was helped by their ally pakistan. farewell kabul tells how success was turned into defeat in the longest war fought by the united states in its history and by britain since the hundred years war. it has been a fiasco which has left afghanistan still one of the poorest nations on earth, the taliban undefeated, and nuclear armed pakistan perhaps the most dangerous place on earth. with unparalleled access to all key decision makers in afghanistan, pakistan, london and washington, from heads of state and generals as well as soldiers on the ground, farewell kabul tells how this happened. in afghanistan, lamb has travelled far beyond helmand from the caves of tora bora in the south to the mountainous bad lands of kunar in the east; from herat, city of poets and minarets in the west, to the very poorest province of samangan in the north. she went to guantanamo, met taliban in quetta, visited jihadi camps in pakistan and saw bin laden's house just after he was killed. saddest of all, she met women who had been made role models by the west and had then been shot, raped or forced to flee the country. this deeply personal book not only shows the human cost of political failure but explains how short sighted encouragement of jihadis to fight the russians, followed by prosecution of ill thoughtout wars, has resulted in the spread of terrorism throughout the islamic world.

From the award-winning co-author of 'i am malala', this book asks just how the might of nato, with 48 countries and 140,000 troops on the ground, failed to defeat a group of religious students and farmers? how did it go so wrong? twenty seven years ago, christina lamb left britain to become a journalist in pakistan. she crossed the hindu kush into afghanistan with mujaheddin fighting the russians and fell unequivocally in love with this fierce country of pomegranates and war, a relationship which has dominated her adult life. since 2001, lamb has watched with incredulity as the west fought a war with its hands tied, committed too little too late, failed to understand local dynamics and turned a blind eye as their taliban enemy was helped by their ally pakistan. farewell kabul tells how success was turned into defeat in the longest war fought by the united states in its history and by britain since the hundred years war. it has been a fiasco which has left afghanistan still one of the poorest nations on earth, the taliban undefeated, and nuclear armed pakistan perhaps the most dangerous place on earth. with unparalleled access to all key decision makers in afghanistan, pakistan, london and washington, from heads of state and generals as well as soldiers on the ground, farewell kabul tells how this happened. in afghanistan, lamb has travelled far beyond helmand from the caves of tora bora in the south to the mountainous bad lands of kunar in the east; from herat, city of poets and minarets in the west, to the very poorest province of samangan in the north. she went to guantanamo, met taliban in quetta, visited jihadi camps in pakistan and saw bin laden's house just after he was killed. saddest of all, she met women who had been made role models by the west and had then been shot, raped or forced to flee the country. this deeply personal book not only shows the human cost of political failure but explains how short sighted encouragement of jihadis to fight the russians, followed by prosecution of ill thoughtout wars, has resulted in the spread of terrorism throughout the islamic world.

View gould and fitzgerald's timeline of afghan history in the global – post's series, "life, death and the taliban." despite declarations made by some in power, the war in afghanistan is far from over — in fact, the turbulence is escalating. seven years after 9/11, the taliban continue to regroup, attack, and claim influence over most of the region. – invisible history presents a fresh, comprehensive analysis of afghanistan's political history that begins at the roots of tribal leadership and ultimately emphasizes our current political moment and the impact of ongoing u.s. military intervention. – paul fitzgerald and elizabeth gould, a husband and wife team, began their experience in afghanistan in 1981 for cbs news and produced a documentary, afghanistan between three worlds, for pbs. in 1983 they returned for abc nightline and contributed to the mac – neil/lehrer news hour. they have continued to research, write and lecture about afghanistan history and u.s. foreign policy since. praise for invisible history:"this book sparkles like a gem amid the piles of uninformed verbiage that is being spewed forth about afghanistan these days. it is clear, forceful, impeccably researched and fearlessly opinionated. no one who wants to understand how the united states stumbled into its afghanistan quagmire, or why it is having such trouble freeing itself, can afford not to read it."–stephen kinzer, author and veteran new york times correspondent "a serious, sobering study, invisible history illuminates a critical point of view rarely discussed by our media. the results of this willful ignorance have been disastrous to our national well-being."–oliver stone"invisible history: afghanistan's untold story is a much-needed corrective to five decades of biased journalistic and academic writing about afghanistan that has covered up the destructive and self-defeating u.s. role there. backed by prodigious research, it shows that successive u.s. administrations deserve much of the blame for the rise of al qaeda and the taliban, and that the increasingly unpopular american military presence in afghanistan today is likely to prove unsustainable."–selig s. with skill and care, they unravel the roots of afghanistan's terrible travail, and lay bare its awesome significance for the world at large. invocation of armageddon is no mere literary device. the threat is all too real as the political leadership of a superpower with few external constraints charges forward on a course that is fraught with peril. invisible history: afghanistan's untold story is a critically important contribution to our understanding of some of the most dramatic and significant developments of current history."– noam chomsky"a revealing and commanding exposé of the imperial history, official skulduggery, and media manipulation that have enveloped afghanistan; a story that americans need to know."—michael parenti, author of contrary notions and against empire "from the dawn of the cold war onward, generations of conservative strategists have eyed afghanistan as a launching pad first for the subversion of the soviet union and then to checkmate russia in central asia. to that end, as gould and fitzgerald show, since the 1950s the cia has played games with both reactionary, feudal landlords and wild-eyed muslim fundamentalists. in their exhaustively documented book, gould and fitzgerald reveal how that sort of gamesmanship played havoc with a battered nation of twenty-five million souls—helping to spawn, in the process, the virulent strain of violent islamism that reaches far beyond the remote and landlocked territory of that war-torn country."—robert dreyfuss, author of devil's game: how the united states helped unleash fundamentalist islam"[a] phenomenal compendium of history, research and critical analysis. . . invisible history is filled with ground-breaking analysis, not only for those interested in the more recent politics of afghanistan, but also for those wanting the larger historical context."—sima wali, president of refugee women in development, from the introduction"invisible history: afghanistan's untold story is a defining work of great wisdom and depth in which the authors get to the bottom of the cauldron that is afghanistan. afghanistan was the first war in the us war on terror. understanding afghanistan is the key to the current war. you could not start at a better place than this book. to understand why eight years later it is still being fought, invisible history: afghanistan's untold story is a must read." —ahmed rashid author of taliban, jihad, and descent into chaos

An emotional and sweeping memoir of love and survival–and of a committed and desperate family uprooted and divided by the violent, changing landscape of afghanistan in the early 1980s. before the soviet invasion of 1980, enjeela ahmadi remembers her home–kabul, afghanistan–as peaceful, prosperous, and filled with people from all walks of life. but after her mother, unsettled by growing political unrest, leaves for medical treatment in india, the civil war intensifies, changing young enjeela's life forever. amid the rumble of invading soviet tanks, enjeela and her family are thrust into chaos and fear when it becomes clear that her mother will not be coming home. thus begins an epic, reckless, and terrifying five-year journey of escape for enjeela, her siblings, and their father to reconnect with her mother. in navigating the dangers ahead of them, and in looking back at the wilderness of her homeland, enjeela discovers the spiritual and physical strength to find hope in the most desperate of circumstances. a heart-stopping memoir of a girl shaken by the brutalities of war and empowered by the will to survive, the broken circle brilliantly illustrates that family is not defined by the borders of a country but by the bonds of the heart.

Alive with adventure, rich with exotic detail, the voice of rudyard kipling carried readers to faraway locations and brought new, exciting scenes to their doorsteps. born and raised in india, kipling became the voice of the eastern british empire, and his writing extensively covered central asia. early in his career, kipling drew inspiration not from travels of his own, but from working with far-flung correspondents at the civil and military gazette in lahore, pakistan, where he served as assistant editor. one of his chief correspondents was dr. charles owen, a close friend of his father's who served a tour of duty with the afghan boundary commission between 1884 and 1886 addressing the border dispute between great britain and russia. this historical biography provides a new perspective on kipling's days as an employee of the civil and military gazette. information garnered from newly uncovered letters and diaries of dr. owen (acquired by the national army museum in 1998) gives personal insight into kipling's life as well as firsthand perceptions of the boundary commission's work. in addition, appendices provide a wealth of information regarding articles by kipling, articles attributed to kipling or his supervisor wheeler, kipling's translations of russian dispatches, and boundary commission reports.