Synopses & Reviews
A daring reporter's quest through the "living history" of Islam amid the War on Terrorism. In 1991, a British university student spent his summer break fighting alongside Kurdish guerrillas in northern Iraq. Now a prize-winning reporter and author of a book on al Qaeda, Jason Burke travels from the Sahara to the Himalayas and meets with refugees, mujahideen, and government ministers in a probing search to understand Islam, and Islamic radicalism, in the context of the "War on Terrorism." Praised by London's Daily Mail as "intensely personal and accessible," this is the gripping story of a search for answers to some of the most urgent questions of our time: What drives Islamic fundamentalism, and how should the West respond? Are we so fundamentally different that we can't coexist? Although much of his book concerns war and violence, Burke reaches the optimistic conclusion that extremist violence alienates its populations and so is doomed fail and wither away.
Review
"Jason Burke has been on the front lines of wars in the Muslim world for two decades, and it shows.
On the Road to Kandahar is a thoughtful travelogue that takes the reader on an adventure that begins with Kurd-ish guerrillas fighting Saddam Hussein, to the Taliban religious warriors and their grim rule in Afghanistan, and to the bloody war in Iraq today. Along the way Burke has a lot of smart things to say about the various jihadist groups and Arab nationalists that have fuelled these conflicts.
On the Road to Kandahar is really a pleasure to read." --
Peter Bergen, CNN terrorism analyst and author of
Holy War, Inc., and the
Osama bin Laden I Know
"Jason Burke's quest to understand radical Islam exposes dangerous myths that misguide the war on terrorism and ultimately reveals that learning more about why Muslims would be terrorists means taking an honest look at ourselves."
--Charles Peña, senior fellow, Independent Institute, and author of Winning the Un-War: A New Strategy for the War on Terrorism
"A view from the sharp end. Intrepid and resourceful." --The Telegraph (UK)
"An astute guide to the range and complexity of the Islamic world." --Sunday Telegraph (UK)
"Beautifully written . . . intensely personal . . . absorbing and illuminating." --Daily Mail (UK)
Synopsis
From one of the world's leading experts in modern Islamic militancy comes an intellectual and personal voyage through the Islamic world, the Muslim faith, and its perception throughout the world.
A brilliant, fearless journalist who knows huge areas of the Islamic world intimately, Jason Burke now turns to the wider question of how we are to get to grips with radical Islam and what it really means. Burke has travelled all over the great arc of Islamic land, from the Middle East to Southeast Asia. In describing this journey, On the Road to Kandahar shows how various and completely unmonolithic Islam really is and how the sort of standard Western generalizations about it are both stupid and dangerous. Burke has met berbers in the Atlas mountains, Palestinian politicians, and hardline Taliban mullahs, and has examined how the actions of an extreme minority have exploited Islam, provoking fear and terror. And he explains how and why Western prejudices and stereotypes have evolved for what is actually a diverse cultural and historical heritage - and what the future holds.
About the Author
Jason Burke is a prize-winning Chief Reporter for The Observer (U.K.) and the bestselling author of Al-Qaeda: The True Story of Radical Islam (2004).