Synopses & Reviews
Correspondent Ahmed Rashid brings the shadowy world of the Talibanthe worlds most extreme and radical Islamic organizationinto sharp focus in this enormously insightful book. He offers the only authoritative account of the Taliban available to English-language readers, explaining the Talibans rise to power, its impact on Afghanistan and the region, its role in oil and gas company decisions, and the effects of changing American attitudes toward the Taliban. He also describes the new face of Islamic fundamentalism and explains why Afghanistan has become the world center for international terrorism.
New to this updated edition of the #1 New York Times Bestseller with more than 1.5 million copies sold worldwide:
o How the Taliban has regained its strength
o How and why the Taliban has spread across Central Asia
o How the Taliban has helped AlQaidas spread into Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and the Far East
o Why the Afghan people feel the United States is losing the war
o A major new introduction and an all-new final chapter
Review
“This is a fine bookerudite, concise, sure-footed, packed with information and insight, easy to read. On each of the three major interrelated themes covered herethe history of the Taliban and the internal politics of Afghanistan; Islam and the Taliban; the ‘new Great Game of oil and gas in Central Asiathe author is illuminating and thorough.”Dilip Hiro,
Middle East International -- Barnaby Rogerson
Review
“The standard work in English on the Taliban.”--Christopher de Bellaigue,
New York Review of Books
-- Dilip Hiro - Middle East International
Review
“Rashid marshals the vast amount of information he has accumulated over decades of covering the area into a long, sad story and tells it with finesse. His book is a gripping account of one of the horror stories of post-Cold War politics.”Jonathan Groner, Salon.com
-- Christopher de Bellaigue - New York Review of Books
Review
“[R]ead this remarkable book and the bewildering complexity of Afghan politics and the deadly overspill of chaos, narcotics, and sectarian violence into the surrounding region will become clear.”Patrick Seale,
Sunday Times -- Katha Pollitt - Nation
Review
“[Rashid is] Pakistans best and bravest reporter.”Christopher Hitchens,
Vanity Fair
-- Patrick Seale - Sunday Times
Review
“[A] thorough, authoritative exegesis.”Peter Bergen,
Washington Post Book World -- Christopher Hitchens - Vanity Fair
Review
“A brilliant work, engrossing and wholly convincing.”Neville Maxwell,
World Affairs -- Peter Bergen - Washington Post Book World
Review
“An excellent political and historical account of the movements rise to power.”Katha Pollitt,
Nation -- Carol J. Avins
Review
“Rashid . . . provides the most reliable and absorbing account of the militant Central Asian movement that has given shelter to Osama bin Laden, addressing the Talibans complicated economic, diplomatic, sociological and military origins.”Lorraine Adams,
Washington Post Book World -- Patrick Seale - Sunday Times
Review
'. . . . Jones masterfully explores the historical, institutional, ideological and class forces that have created the fine mess that is todays Pakistan. -- Victor Davis Hanson'
Review
'\"Comprehensive. . . . The product of impressive expertise.\"Robert D. Kaplan,
New York Times Book Review
-- Emran Qureshi - Globe and Mail (Toronto)'
Review
'\"[A] lucid and sobering examination. . . . Owen Bennett Jones has delivered a well-crafted, clear, balanced and often quite lively account that should be immensely useful to Americans who want to understand this difficult ally.\"Thomas W. Lippman,
Washington Post Book World -- Robert D. Kaplan - New York Times Book Review'
Review
“[A] valuable and informative work.”Richard Bernstein, New York Times (on the first edition) -- The Quarterly Review of Biology
Review
“Virtually the only informed work on the men who, since 1994, have ruled almost all of Afghanistan. . . . [An] indispensable book.”--Steve Wasserman,
Los Angeles Times Book Review (on the first edition)
-- Richard Bernstein - New York Times
Review
“[Rashid is] Pakistans best and bravest reporter.”Christopher Hitchens, Vanity Fair -- Steve Wasserman - Los Angeles Times Book Review
Review
“The standard work in English on the Taliban.”--Christopher de Bellaigue,
New York Review of Books (on the first edition)
-- Christopher Hitchens - Vanity Fair
Review
"Mr. Hiro ought to be commended for attempting to bring a regional lens to a subject too often written about in narrower terms."and#8212;Sadanand Dhume, Wall Street Journal
Synopsis
An important new history of the relentless growth of South Asia's jihadist violence, and a careful analysis of how it can be countered
This hard-hitting and timely book explores the roots of militant Islam in South Asia and how it has grown to become a source of profound global alarm. By meticulously tracking the rise of the jihadist movement from its initial violence in Afghanistan in 1980 to the present day, Dilip Hiro challenges conventional narratives of the roles of Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Soviet Union, the United States, and India. He warns that the Line of Control in Kashmir, where jihadists seek to incite war between nuclear-armed Pakistan and India, is today the most dangerous border in the world.
Drawing on evidence from a wide variety of sources including newly released Kremlin archives and classified U.S. Embassy documents published by WikiLeaks, the author compiles the first complete and accurate history of Islamist terrorism in South Asia. He chronicles historic links between Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India and their varying degrees of destabilization at the hands of the jihadists. He also sheds unprecedented light on the close military and intelligence links that have developed between India and Israel. Finally, he outlines the ambitions of Pakistani, Afghan, and Al Qaeda jihadists to establish an "apocalyptic realm" covering South, Central, and Western Asia. Compact, comprehensive, and fast paced, this book lays bare the causes of today's escalating terrorist threat, sets the historical record straight, and offers fresh strategies for defeating jihadist extremism.
Synopsis
Shrouding themselves and their aims in deepest secrecy, the leaders of the Taliban movement control Afghanistan with an inflexible, crushing fundamentalism. The most extreme and radical of all Islamic organizations, the Taliban inspires fascination, controversy, and especially fear in both the Muslim world and the West. Correspondent Ahmed Rashid brings the shadowy world of the Taliban into sharp focus in this enormously interesting and revealing book. It is the only authoritative account of the Taliban and modern day Afghanistan available to English language readers.
Based on his experiences as a journalist covering the civil war in Afghanistan for twenty years, traveling and living with the Taliban, and interviewing most of the Taliban leaders since their emergence to power in 1994, Rashid offers unparalleled firsthand information. He explains how the growth of Taliban power has already created severe instability in Russia, Iran, Pakistan, and five Central Asian republics. He describes the Talibans role as a major player in a new Great Game”a competition among Western countries and companies to build oil and gas pipelines from Central Asia to Western and Asian markets. The author also discusses the controversial changes in American attitudes toward the Talibanfrom early support to recent bombings of Osama Bin Ladens hideaway and other Taliban-protected terrorist basesand how they have influenced the stability of the region.
Synopsis
This thoroughly revised and updated edition of Bennett Jones market-leading account of this critical modern state includes fresh material on the Taliban insurgency, the Musharraf years, the return and subsequent assassination of Benazir Bhutto, and the unlikely election as president of Asif Ali Zardari.
Praise for the first edition
The world has a stake in what happens in Pakistan. How great a stake, this book makes compellingly clear.”Robert M. Hathaway, Wilson Quarterly
[A] lucid and sobering examination. . . . Owen Bennett Jones has delivered a well-crafted, clear, balanced and often quite lively account that should be immensely useful.”Thomas W. Lippman, Washington Post Book World
Owen Bennett Jones was BBC correspondent in Pakistan and is now correspondent in Asia for the BBC World Service. He has written for the Guardian, the Financial Times, the Independent, the London Review of Books, and Prospect magazine.
Synopsis
Yemen is the dark horse of the Middle East. Every so often it enters the headlines for one alarming reason or anotherlinks with al-Qaeda, kidnapped Westerners, explosive population growththen sinks into obscurity again. But, as Victoria Clark argues in this riveting book, we ignore Yemen at our peril. The poorest state in the Arab world, it is still dominated by its tribal makeup and has become a perfect breeding ground for insurgent and terrorist movements.
Clark returns to the country where she was born to discover a perilously fragile state that deserves more of our understanding and attention. On a series of visits to Yemen between 2004 and 2009, she meets politicians, influential tribesmen, oil workers and jihadists as well as ordinary Yemenis. Untangling Yemens history before examining the countrys role in both al-Qaeda and the wider jihadist movement today, Clark presents a lively, clear, and up-to-date account of a little-known state whose chronic instability is increasingly engaging the general reader.
Synopsis
An important new history of the relentless growth of South Asia's jihadist violence, and a careful analysis of how it can be countered
Synopsis
This hard-hitting and timely book explores the roots of militant Islam in South Asia and how it has grown to become a source of profound global alarm. By meticulously tracking the rise of the jihadist movement from its initial violence in Afghanistan in 1980 to the present day, Dilip Hiro challenges conventional narratives of the roles of Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Soviet Union, the United States, and India. He warns that the Line of Control in Kashmir, where jihadists seek to incite war between nuclear-armed Pakistan and India, is today the most dangerous border in the world.
Drawing on evidence from a wide variety of sources including newly released Kremlin archives and classified U.S. Embassy documents published by WikiLeaks, the author compiles the first complete and accurate history of Islamist terrorism in South Asia. He chronicles historic links between Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India and their varying degrees of destabilization at the hands of the jihadists. He also sheds unprecedented light on the close military and intelligence links that have developed between India and Israel. Finally, he outlines the ambitions of Pakistani, Afghan, and Al Qaeda jihadists to establish an "apocalyptic realm" covering South, Central, and Western Asia. Compact, comprehensive, and fast paced, this book lays bare the causes of today's escalating terrorist threat, sets the historical record straight, and offers fresh strategies for defeating jihadist extremism.
About the Author
Called Pakistans best and bravest reporter” by Christopher Hitchens in Vanity Fair, Ahmed Rashid was a correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review for more than twenty years, covering Pakistan, Afghanistan, and central Asia. He now writes for BBC Online, the Washington Post, El Mundo, the International Herald Tribune, the New York Review of Books, and other foreign and Pakistani newspapers. He has been covering the wars in Afghanistan, as well as the wars in Pakistan and Tajikistan, since 1979. He is the author of Descent into Chaos and Jihad.