And his unfearful description of the intensive involvement of pakistans army and isi in afghanistan is reflective of a true journalistic spirit. First alexander the great tried to subdue the proud iranian and scythian warriors in a bloody and inconclusive campaign and had to settle for a compromise solution before getting out of the place to start his conquest of india, after many centuries of bloody wars and conquest by the most fearsome eastern. Seems history in afghanistan tends to repeat itself from time to time. Antitaliban northern alliance forces enter kabul shortly afterwards. He charts the rise of al qaeda from the soviet war in afghanistan to afghan civil war, to a ruling government of sorts until after september 11th 2001.
History books can be extremely boring, all dates and names jumbling into a brainnumbing mess. Best nonfiction war books, around the world one book from each country, best iraq and afghanistan war books, best books on special forces m. The second book youve picked by edwards, before taliban, is more contemporary. The taliban emerged in the early 1990s in northern pakistan following the withdrawal of soviet troops from afghanistan. In an age in which events in the middle east threaten increasingly to spin out of control, few books could be as timely as this history of afghanistan.
The pashtuns and the taliban abubakar siddique, the pashtun question. Library of congress federal research division country profile. Fighting for afghanistan is the third book in the rogue historian trilogy, taking maloneys story into the conflict in 2006, when the talibanled insurgency threatened to overwhelm the u. However, under the taliban regime 19962001, books considered unislamic were burned. Rashid is also the author of the authoritative taliban.
For over 2,500 years, the forbidding territory of afghanistan has served as a vital crossroads for armies and has witnessed historyshaping clashes between civilizations. Ahmed rashids new book, taliban, begins with a concise history of. Irans relationship with the taliban shifted, however, as u. William dalrymples top 10 books on afghanistan travel. Iran and afghanistans long, complicated history united. Tehran viewed the taliban as a useful tool to counter u. The taliban remain one of the most elusive forces in modern history. Taliban simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. An exhibit in kabul, afghanistan, celebrates the achievements of ancient and modern women from afghanistan and the region amid fears of a taliban return to power. The united states and the failure of nation building in pakistan, afghanistan, and central asia by ahmed rashid, is also looking at afghanistans international relationships, but this time in the modern day. The region of afghanistan has for much of history been part of the persian empire. On each of the three major interrelated themes covered herethe history of the taliban and the internal politics of afghanistan.
The baddest conquerers in ancient history from alexander the great to ghengis khan all crashed on the rocky island of afghanistan. Very occasionally, as in the time of mahmud of ghazni, it has existed as a kingdom approximating more closely to the modern borders of aghanistan. The best books on understanding the war in afghanistan. The secret history of the cia, afghanistan, and bin laden, from the soviet invasion to september 10, 2001. I have read all rashids books on taliban and afghanistan and they are quality reading if one is into those subjects. Rashids account of the origin of the hazaras is absurd at best. List of books and articles about afghan history online. The taliban dominates large swaths of afghanistan and a large part of pakistans federally administered tribal areas, semiautonomous tribal lands along the afghanpakistan border that serve as training grounds for terrorists. The faction took its name from its membership, which consisted largely of students. Thomas barfield introduces readers to the bewildering diversity of tribal and ethnic groups in afghanistan, explaining what unites them as afghans despite the regional. Rashid offers the only authoritative account of the taliban available to englishlanguage readers, explaining the talibans rise to power, its impact on afghanistan and the middle east and central asia, its role in oil and gas company decisions, and the effects of changing american attitudes toward the taliban. This shift to nearconventional warfare, as opposed to the smallscale guerilla attacks and urban terrorism in kandahar, caught everybody by surprise and.
The taliban is still fighting the afghan and pakistani governments in afghanistan and parts of pakistan. After taliban were driven from some parts of afghanistan a man dug up his tv and vcr and watched titanic with his neighbors. Early history the location of afghanistan astride the land routes between the indian subcontinent, iran, and central asia has enticed conquerors throughout history. The retreating taliban flee southward toward kandahar. In 1933 amanullahs nephew mohammad zahir shah, the last king of afghanistan, began a 40year reign. Ahmed rashid, a fearless reporter and authority on the politics of afghanistan, came to world attention after 911 when his book taliban was recognized to be virtually the only serious book on the. Militant islam, oil and fundamentalism in central asia. The talibans most original aims were, as ahmed rashid, the pakistani journalist and author of taliban 2000, wrote, to restore peace, disarm the population, enforce sharia law and defend the integrity and islamic character of afghanistan. From the day to day life of the good soldiers and marines on the front lines to the quest to find osama bin laden, there are books that tell the true story from the people who fought. The taliban recognized him as the commander of the faithful or the supreme leader of the muslims until being succeeded by mullah akhtar mansour in 2015. Its high mountains, although hindering unity, helped the hill tribes to preserve their independence. It starts with what happened in 1978 and afghanistans descent into violence, and brings us up to speed on developments in. The book reflects the capricious political climate of afghanistan, from the early monarchy to the terrible taliban regime.
Lees wellwritten book is rich in rewarding detail and will be essential reading for anyone interested in the history of afghanistan. Many libraries, including the entire library of kabul university which had also served as the national library were looted or shut down. Between 1996 and 2001, afghanistan had no national anthem because the taliban had banned music altogether. The talibanfrom the arabic word for student, talibare fundamentalist sunni muslims, mostly from afghanistans pashtun tribes. However, resistance to his domestic reform program forced his abdication in 1929. Lets have a look at the social evolution of the taliban. The kite runner by khaled hosseini, a thousand splendid suns by khaled hosseini, and the mountains echoed by khaled hossein. Ahmed rashid has written the gold standard of books on the taliban. Militant islam, oil and fundamentalism in central asia, second edition second edition.
Since tvsvcrradios were banned under the taliban many people buried them in their backyards. Greek, arab, mongol, and tartar, and, in more recent times, british, russian, and american. October 6, 2001 bush warns the taliban that time was running out unless they gave up. The result is plenty of must read books about the war in afghanistan. The taliban calls for a jihad against the us if its forces enter afghanistan. However, an important thing i like to point out here is the history of the hazaras ahmed rashid has mentioned in the taliban. Bikes and books in afghanistan american libraries magazine.
The secret history of the cia, afghanistan, and bin laden, from the soviet invasion to september 10, 2001 by steve coll 17 times the afghan by frederick forsyth 16 times horse soldiers. The taliban emerged as a significant force in afghanistan in 1994 when they were assigned by pakistan to protect a convoy in afghanistan, which. What are some good books to read about afghan history. Taliban fighters abandon their final stronghold in kandahar as the militia groups hold on. A street vendor sells bread in an alley of charahi qambar refugee camp in kabul, a day after the u. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read afghanistan. A military history from alexander the great to the war against the taliban ebook written by stephen tanner. While the taliban have been completely removed from power, former taliban soldiers show up in nearby villages and continue to push the talibans policies.
Afghanistan is bordered by iran on the west, by pakistan on the east and south, and by turkmenistan, uzbekistan, and tajikistan on the north. Us afghan envoy to meet taliban in qatar in new efforts for peace. Starting with alexander the great and moving to the early days of the americas entrance in the war, tanner walks the reader through a land where the geography and culture, more than any other place, change the rules of warfare. This is in no way a comprehensive list of books or films about afghanistan, or even everything that i have read, but its a good start for anyone who wants to learn more.
Afghanistan traces the historic struggles and the changing nature of political authority in this volatile region of the world, from the mughal empire in the sixteenth century to the taliban resurgence today. Id highly recommend the following books descent into chaos ahmed rashid if you only read one thing about american policy in afghanistan and pakistan, let it be this book. Zalmay khalilzad will press taliban, india and pakistan to support a reduction in violence amid surging taliban attacks. List of books and articles about taliban online research. Key dates in the history of the taliban and contemporary afghanistanby laura hayes and borgna brunner 197920002001200220062006present1979soviet union invades afghanistan.
The taliban emerged as a significant force in afghanistan in 1994 when they were assigned by pakistan to protect a convoy in afghanistan, which marked the beginning of a longterm alliance between the group and pakistani security forces. Afghanistan facts 27 interesting facts about afghanistan. For me the book was personally meaningful in that one of the many actors on this crowded stage was sir william mcnaughtonmy grandfather nine generations past. It provided taliban forces with enough military equipment to pressure the united states but not enough to generate american military retaliation. Afghanistan has a proud literary tradition that includes contemporary writers such as reza mohammadi and khaled hosseini. War, religion and the new order in afghanistan london. The taliban emerged in 1994 as one of the prominent factions in the afghan civil war and largely consisted of students talib from the pashtun areas of eastern and southern afghanistan who had been educated in traditional islamic schools, and fought during the soviet afghan war. The extraordinary story of a band of us soldiers who rode to victory in afghanistan by doug stanton 15 times. From time to time it has been linked with the northern plains of india, as under the kushan dynasty of the 2nd century ad. Readers across the globe devoured the unique, fluid prose, which detailed the painful and strenuous circumstances of its protagonist amir and his journey as he grew up. William dalrymples top 10 books on afghanistan from 16thcentury mughal rulers, to daring victorian spies and todays taliban, the travel writer and. His book about the taliban came to prominence after 911.
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