An outstanding story told by an outstanding writer. I want to meet Rosanne Klass and listen to the voice that is behind one of the most beautiful styles and crucial messages in today's world. Her portraits of the people she knew in Afghanistan (especially Gul Baz) and her descriptions of that country are "poetry." Her explanations of customs and mores of the Afghanistan people are touching and informative, told from the point of view of a young teacher with an open mind. I highly recommend this book to everyone who wants to gain some understanding of the people who have lived in the rugged terrain of Afghanistan for centuries.

The writer has a very kindly and personal point of view. Very good book!

Anyone interested in the History,Ethnology and culture of Afghanistan will be immensely satisfied.Dupree's fine-toothed research covers every square inch of this tragic yet fascinating country.From Alexander the great's classic Central Asian campaigns up to the post Soviet invasion era.

"Afghanistan" gives the reader a complete insight in life in Afghanistan from the Stone-age until the Russian Invasion. Dupee go's in extreme detail about all aspects of Afghanistan's society and "illustrates" them with many stories which makes the book fasinating from the first page to the end. He presents the reader Afghanistan historicly, geographicly and demographicly. The index in the back of the book, makes it to a most complete reference source. After reading this book you know more about Afghanistan than many Afghanies!

(Please feel free to correct my english) Jeroen van Dijk

This book explores the Past and Present of Afghanistan. It is wonderful historical book and I highly recommend it to professors and students. It was written with great detail and love. The author is a mastermind who is full of knowledge and wisdom.

i am young international relation specialist from AFGHANISTAN. what the author has done for the right of afghanistan as a land surrendered country, in the UNITED NATIONS is a source of pride for me. i will be a very gratfull if sombody advice me how i can continue research on the right of land surrendered countries for unconditional access to sea ports.

thanks & regards zakria barakzai

Having stumbled across Daniel Bolger's Feast of Bones in a used bookstore, I had no idea of the quality of the narrative, character development, and objectivity of the point of view. Since it takes place in Russia and Afganistan, and it takes the Russian paratrooper sight-line, the reader might find it difficult at first, if one is hardliner anti-Soviet. Feast of Bones reminds me of other novels written by 'natives,' like Das Boot. Bolger gets inside the Russian military mind with his lead character Desantnik D. I. Donslov's singleminded commitment to fighting a war intuitively, instinctively, and historically. I was so impressed by Bolger's ability to create fiction from fact that I turned to Amazon.com to find anything else he's done, besides his military textbooks, only to find that Feast of Bones is out of print. For a 1990 title, it's too bad, and warrior readers' loss. Knowing this, I'll keep my copy... wishing that Bolger would write another novel one of these days.

I have read every one of Colonel Dan Bolger's books. This one is his best in my opinion. His writing is crisp, his knowledge of soldiers and soldiering is unequivocal, and the story is compelling without some of the folksy writing that occassionally works its way into his non-fiction works. His background, both military and academic, guarantee the authenticity of the details that make this compelling reading. Like Red Army, by Ralph Peters, it provides an insight into the only force that routinely gave American military leaders sleepless nights. I had the privilege of serving with Colonel Bolger in the 101st Airborne and he convinced me to major in military history at West Point many years ago in just 3 minutes. If you can get your hands on this book, read it. Infantry Officers will find Cadet Donskov's training particulary compelling and may bring back a few flashbacks from Darby Phase. If you want to know the only novel that captures the warrior ethic better (my opinion only) email me.

HINDU KUSH is a political thriller set in Afghanistan in1981.

Y. L. Harris has masterly woven together a story ofinternational intrigue that centers around Ali Kamal, son of the recently assassinated royal president, who leads the resistance against the present corrupt government and Soviet occupation.

The Hindu Kush are the rugged mountains of Afghanistan in which bloody guerrilla battles take place and where, during a cease-fire, Kamal ends up nursing back to health an American photographer, Sarah Jamison, who had been injured after having become separated from her college group.

Though Kamal is American educated, honor, culture, and a deep sense of his country's history are deeply ingrained in him while at the same time, he dreams of modernizing his country. Sarah is, well, American. There is a culture clash of monumental proportions as Ali and Sarah get to know each other. They fall in love anyway. The kind of love that doesn't get any deeper. The kind that hurts so much when they have to be apart, for they never know if they will see each other again because of the very real possibility that either of them may well end up dead.

She chooses to stay with Kamal despite the peril that threatens to erupt all around them while he strategizes a coup d'etat. Kamal must anticipate when the current president will be most vulnerable. He must negotiate with the crazed leader of a renegade group and with the cunning Soviet ambassador to Afghanistan.

Kamal's greatest fear occurs when Sarah is kidnapped, and in his desperation to see her alive again, he has no choice but to place his trust in a despised enemy.

Plot twists and overwhelming danger will keep your mind guessing and your heart hammering, and after you have lived vicariously through the main characters in their heroic efforts to succeed and survive, you will be frazzled. HINDU KUSH will dog your mind for days afterwards.

In 1981 Afghanistan, rebel leader Ali Kamal has two goals. The personal goal is to avenge the death of his father. The loftier goal is to drive the Russians and their puppets out of the country. The American educated, grandson of the former king, Ali has organized the Mujahideen into a powerful fighting team that has caused much trouble for his enemies.

Sarah Jamison is the blue-blooded daughter of the American ambassador to Burma. She is vacationing in Pakistan when she inadvertently crosses the border into Afghanistan. Kamal and his forces find her wandering lost. Soon she joins his troops as a photographer bringing the war home to the world. Kamal and Sarah begin to fall in love with one another. His side is upset that their leader would consider an infidel as an equal. Her side has the CIA and several other shadowy agencies wanting to "rescue" her.

HINDU KUSH is a fabulous political thriller that focuses on the Afghani insurrection of the early 1980's. The exciting story line is filled with multi-faceted high voltage tension that never eases up even as the audience gains an understanding of what occurred. The lead characters are a wonderful duo, seeking a place to forge a relationship while the world stage seeks to separate them. Filled with torrid romance, powerful battle scenes, and international intrigue, HINDU KUSH is must reading for fans of political thrillers, who will demand more works from Y.L. Harris.

A very humane and sensitive account that explores the world view of people far from the beaten track. Despite the differences we are led to understand their concerns which turn out to be far less foreign than the material setting would suggest.

Chaffetz book "A memorial" is the last in my trilogy of readings on Afghanistan for this year. First, I read about Nic Danzinger's travels through the area in recent years. Next, I jumped back to the 1950's and '60s with Sir Wilfred Thesiger's--"Among the Mountains". I finished with Chaffetz's "A Journey Through Afghanistan". They are all brilliant but Chaffetz's book stands out as a scholarly piece and could well be used in anthropological circles for it's in depth study of the urban and nomadic Afghanis prior and during the Russian invasion. The recent drought that has affected the Hazarajat and Kuchi nomads of Afghanistan was brought that much closer with this book. I had bought this book in the late 1980's but between different trips to the Near East--I had fogotten where I left it. As a result, it took me 10 years to actually get around to reading it and after finishing it, I wondered why I hadn't cracked the spline earlier. Chaffetz' style can be a bit off-putting but his travelling companion is a perfect foil to David's abrasive personality. I would really like to know why Chaffetz was studying Parsi in pre-revolutionary Iran or was that just a cover?

This is an intensely personal encounter of the author with old friends and some not-so-friendly people in Afghanistan. A must read for understanding the deep cultural roots of conflict in the region.

There are many good books now offering us insight into Afghanistan and Pakistan, but even the best of them -- like Carpet Wars -- are by men and almost all the people they meet and talk about are men -- not surprisingly, given where they are. Christina Lamb has been in Afghanistan and nearby Pakistan over a period of decades. Her writing is clear, direct, and sympathetic to the people she's known there for many years, including Hamid Karzai. The people she meets -- and re-meets -- along the way become part of her story which humanizes the the local situations she describes. Top notch!

Giustozzi knows more than any one about what was going on inside pro-soviet Afghanistan. I think he is also a good pupil of Prof. Halliday. Perhaps no other scholar knows more about the Afghan government and society in 1978-92.

War, politics and Society in afghanistan is the best book written on this very intricate topic. Every serious student of contemporary history have to face with this reality. Afghanistan was and still is the fulcrum of the world's equilibrium. Knowing Afghanistan means a lot!

Everything that the previous reviewer said is absolutely true. This is a wonderful resource with rich photographs and helpful information. I recommend it to anyone interested in nations of the world.

This is a wonderfully concise reference book. The book offers "at a glance" facts which give a quick overview as well as text synopsis of the people, economy & land and history & politics. Each contry is represented with at least one map, most also offer scenic pictures,and population & ethnic group pie charts. To be complete, the book begins with facts, pictures and graphs about the solar system, the earth, continents, volcanoes, lakes, population, etc. Of course, there are also detailed maps of the world and each continent.

Our family has found this book usefull for writing school reports, planning vacations, and just enjoying learning more about the world. It's a very complete book I recommend for every household library.

In this exceptional volume Chris Steele-Perkins has distilled four separate travel adventures into an enormously effective photo-essay depicting Afghanistan at a time when the now ignominious Taliban were just taking hold of and consolidating their political power (c.1995). Although the book has as its focus unending war and the horrendous impact interminable armed conflict has had on the people of Afghanistan, what is remarkable in Steele-Perkin's work is how the daily pulse of ordinary life lived within a landscape of devastation and ruin manages consistently to emerge through the gloom. Because these wonderfully evocative images are indeed full of life! And full of the great beauty and mystery of the Afghan people. Two written essays (one by the photographer is a splendid travelogue) complement perfectly this accomplished portfolio of haunting images.