- Taschenbuch: 368 Seiten
- Verlag: Harper Perennial; Auflage: Perennial. (17. September 2002)
- Sprache: Englisch
- ISBN-10: 0060505087
- ISBN-13: 978-0060505080
- Größe und/oder Gewicht: 20,4 x 13,6 x 2,3 cm
- Amazon Bestseller-Rang: Nr. 236.854 in Englische Bücher (Siehe Top 100 in Englische Bücher)
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From Booklist
September 11 drastically changed the fate of this scholarly history of Afghanistan. Before, it might have found an audience in a few college classrooms, but now, few libraries will want to be without it. Ewans begins by glossing over early Afghan history and the triumph by Islam over Buddhism and indigenous religions, and giving a brief overview of the occupations by Genghis Khan and Timur. Most of the book is devoted to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. There aren't a lot of bright spots in modern Afghan history. The people share no linguistic, religious, or ethnic traditions and have come together only to fight common enemies. Two wars with the British and the mujahadeen resistance against the Soviets devastated both the people and the economy, but the anarchy following the wars was equally crippling. Often lacking a centralized government, the few rulers Afghanistan has known, from Daoud to Mullah Omar, have been charismatic personalities but hugely ineffective leaders. With a comprehensive understanding of Afghan history, Ewans portrays the rise of the Taliban in the context of a nation that had known no peace in 40 years and little peace in all its history. An epilogue, which contains the most compelling writing of the book, explores the aftermath of September 11 on Afghan history. Though the dry, scholarly political history will turn off casual readers, this is a fascinating story and the best book-length examination of Afghanistan's history we're likely to have for some time. John Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.
From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-Spanning a period from thousands of years B.C.E. through September 11, 2001, Ewans ambitiously covers an incredible scope of this country's history. While the writing is dry at times, the information goes a long way toward putting the nation's current situation in perspective. Events leading up to and during the Soviet invasion in the late '70s are especially intriguing, as is the explanation of the mujahadin's emergence. More than half the book dwells on 20th-century happenings, with quite a bit of fascinating detail on conditions in Afghanistan during the '90s. Light is shed on how and why the Taliban movement gained power. Discussion on drug trafficking includes statistics on opium production. A five-page epilogue analyzes the impact of 9/11 and subsequent actions taken to bring down the Taliban and to snuff out bin Laden and his Al Qaeda operations. Remarkably thorough text is supplemented by a diagram of the Durrani dynasty; a section of 38 black-and-white glossy plates showing not only historical places and figures, but also early coinage; and 8 geopolitical maps. A former diplomat who served in Afghanistan, Ewans has written a timely and useful book that proffers insight into a country that until recently had been overlooked by most of the world.
Sheila Shoup, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.
Sheila Shoup, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. -- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.
In diesem Buch
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Einleitungssatz
FOR A COUNTRY AS CLOSED and remote as afghanistan, a great deal for archaeological research has been carried out over the years, although relatively little of it has covered the country's prehistory. Lesen Sie die erste Seite
Buchdeckel | Copyright | Inhaltsverzeichnis | Auszug | Stichwortverzeichnis | Rückseite
FOR A COUNTRY AS CLOSED and remote as afghanistan, a great deal for archaeological research has been carried out over the years, although relatively little of it has covered the country's prehistory. Lesen Sie die erste Seite
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28 von 29 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich
Complete History of Afghanistan
28. September 2005
Format:Gebundene Ausgabe
Martin Ewans, who previously served as a British diplomat in Afghanistan, is clearly someone who is very knowledegable of Afghan history and its people. However, the title "A Short History" may be a bit misleading, as this is, in fact, a thorough examination of Afghan history with some rather dense writing. Certainly it is more for those seriously interested in the subject matter rather than the casual reader.
Another thing to consider is that this book covers Afghanistan from its earliest days to the modern era. Personally, I was most interested in Afghanistan's ancient history as well as the contemporary period, especially the Taliban and the current U.S. military presence. Instead its ancient history is only briefly discussed, with the bulk of the book being devoted to the 1800's and 1900's. The book does offer substantial and insightful coverage of the Soviet occupation, the mujahidin and the Taliban. But, since the book was written in 2002, it's not completely up to date on what is currently happening in Afghanistan. So someone primarily interested in post-Taliban Afghanistan might do better with one of the many books devoted solely to the contemporary era.
Still Ewans is a extremely intelligent man and has tremendous amounts of information and insight to convey regarding Afgan history. This one is worth reading for those with a serious interest in the country
Another thing to consider is that this book covers Afghanistan from its earliest days to the modern era. Personally, I was most interested in Afghanistan's ancient history as well as the contemporary period, especially the Taliban and the current U.S. military presence. Instead its ancient history is only briefly discussed, with the bulk of the book being devoted to the 1800's and 1900's. The book does offer substantial and insightful coverage of the Soviet occupation, the mujahidin and the Taliban. But, since the book was written in 2002, it's not completely up to date on what is currently happening in Afghanistan. So someone primarily interested in post-Taliban Afghanistan might do better with one of the many books devoted solely to the contemporary era.
Still Ewans is a extremely intelligent man and has tremendous amounts of information and insight to convey regarding Afgan history. This one is worth reading for those with a serious interest in the country
20 von 20 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich
A pithy review
4. März 2006
Format:Taschenbuch
I liked this book, had no problem reading it, and recommend it. Presumably when reviewers refer to it as "dry", they mean in comparison to such popular histories as Peter Hopkirk's fascinating "The Great Game". But, Hopkirk's point of view lends to the events an air of "the plucky British soldiers" fighting against "incredible odds" in their 19th century incursions into Afghanistan. What happened is that the disciplined British military with the aid of superior tactics and weaponry massacred numerous Afghanis in their quest to keep their Indian empire secure (from a Russian invasion that might never have occurred anyway), and, in due course, suffered some massacres of their own. I don't suggest Hopkirk whitewashed these events. Rather, he knows a story is more appealing with "heros" and "villains", and constructing these is how the very readable "The Great Game" makes a century of fairly detailed Central Asian history palatable.
Ewans's book lacks heros and villains. It's briefer and is consciously even-handed, written with a diplomat's grasp of how the personalities of leaders and the policies of powerful countries towards poor ones steer events. If you want a pithy review of Afghanistan's interactions with the world's great powers, its politics, and the succession of leaders from Dost Mohammed forward, this is your book. It certainly served me well.
Weaknesses of this book include, first, the sketchiness of the pre-19th century history and, second, a sharp focus on leaders and politics giving little idea of how ordinary Afghans lived, especially in rural areas (that is, until the closing chapters dealing with the Communist government, Soviet invasion, and regimes of the Mujahidin and Taliban). I'd like to know more about life in and leaders of the powerful rural tribes, who for 150 years have erected road blocks to the policies of kings, prime ministers, and presidents.
One source for conditions in the country-side are the travelogues of 20th century adventurers: Robert Byron "The road to Oxiana" (1930s - 6 stars out of a possible 5, though about 2/3s of that book concerns Iran), Eric Newby "A short walk in the Hindu Kush" (1950s - humor in the mountains), and Peter Levi "The light garden of the angel king" (1970s - next on my stack to read, but seems highly regarded by all).
Ewans's book lacks heros and villains. It's briefer and is consciously even-handed, written with a diplomat's grasp of how the personalities of leaders and the policies of powerful countries towards poor ones steer events. If you want a pithy review of Afghanistan's interactions with the world's great powers, its politics, and the succession of leaders from Dost Mohammed forward, this is your book. It certainly served me well.
Weaknesses of this book include, first, the sketchiness of the pre-19th century history and, second, a sharp focus on leaders and politics giving little idea of how ordinary Afghans lived, especially in rural areas (that is, until the closing chapters dealing with the Communist government, Soviet invasion, and regimes of the Mujahidin and Taliban). I'd like to know more about life in and leaders of the powerful rural tribes, who for 150 years have erected road blocks to the policies of kings, prime ministers, and presidents.
One source for conditions in the country-side are the travelogues of 20th century adventurers: Robert Byron "The road to Oxiana" (1930s - 6 stars out of a possible 5, though about 2/3s of that book concerns Iran), Eric Newby "A short walk in the Hindu Kush" (1950s - humor in the mountains), and Peter Levi "The light garden of the angel king" (1970s - next on my stack to read, but seems highly regarded by all).
14 von 16 Kunden fanden die folgende Rezension hilfreich
Excellent Survey
9. Juli 2003
Format:Taschenbuch
This is a great book for readers interested in a brief survey of Afghanistan's political history and foreign relations from ancient times to 9/11. Author Ewans, a retired British diplomat who served in Kabul, writes superbly, stays focused on issues that are important and interesting, and has a droll sense of the role played by stupidity in foreign affairs. The highlights are the chapters on Anglo-Afghan relations in the 19th century and the Soviet occupation and civil war in the 1980s and 1990s. Ewans does stumble in early chapters that reshash boring dynastic histories from the middle ages (hence my rating of four stars), but this is the only flaw in an otherwise excellent book.
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