Michael Barry's book charts the history of Afghanistan from the founding of a kingdom in Kabul in 1504 to the present day. An understanding of the past is crucial for coming to grips with the complexities of Afghanistan's present which provides the focus of Barry's book. The country has been the site of almost continuous conflict since the communist coup d'etat in April 1978 to the fall of the Taliban in November 2001, when it was marked out as first-stop in America's war against terror. As an historian and anthropologist of the area, Barry is well placed to unravel these intricacies and to explain the religious and political context. His reasoned account offers an antidote to the more controversial and overstated images of Afghanistan which have proliferated recently, and his first-hand experience reveals a profound sympathy for the Afghan people which brings them, and their enigmatic country to life.
- ISBN13 9780521534253
- Publish Date 30 September 2007 (first published 26 October 2004)
- Publish Status Cancelled
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Cambridge University Press
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 320
- Language English