This is a detailed if relatively brief account of the complex history of Afghanistan, two thirds of the book focusing on the last hundred years.
Of particular interest perhaps is how communists came to power in Afghanistan at the very moment where it seemed genuine democracy was at the point of taking. A coup by communists followed a coup by the somewhat inscrutable Daoud whose obsession with recovering territory from Pakistan led to his undoing.
Earlier than that we have a history of the "Great Game" where Afghans were forced to play off the interests of Britain and Russia over many decades. The way Ewans tells this the Brits, despite some follies and excesses, prevented a likely Russian takeover and this led to relative stability until the British withdrew after the second world war.
Finally the book looks at the civil war which followed the withdrawal of the Russians in 1988 and the subsequent rise of the Taliban with Pakistani backing, ending with a grim view of the future.
A theme throughout is the great pride of the Afghani people and their refusal to assent to intervention from abroad. So far they have been unable to reconcile this with any stability for their own people.
If you want to know the history this seems like a good place to start.
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conjunction
A good overview
Rezension aus dem Vereinigten Königreich vom 26. Juni 2007Verifizierter Kauf
Manos T.
Valuable for understanding the country's background, but marred by bad print quality (paperback 2002 ed.).
Rezension aus den Vereinigten Staaten vom 5. Mai 2018Verifizierter Kauf
Joaquim Ardillo
Afghanistan in Context
Rezension aus den Vereinigten Staaten vom 11. November 2009Verifizierter Kauf
Napoleon0469
Excellent book, and a must read for Afghanistan buffs
Rezension aus den Vereinigten Staaten vom 29. Januar 2016Verifizierter Kauf
rbarack
More words
Rezension aus den Vereinigten Staaten vom 1. Januar 2020Verifizierter Kauf