Synopses & Reviews
Correspondent Ahmed Rashid brings the shadowy world of the Taliban—the world’s most extreme and radical Islamic organization—into sharp focus in this enormously insightful book. Rashid offers the only authoritative account of the Taliban available to English-language readers, explaining the Taliban’s rise to power, its impact on Afghanistan and the Middle East and Central Asia, 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:
- How the Taliban has regained its strength
- How and why the Taliban has spread across Central Asia
- How the Taliban has helped Al’Qaida’s spread into Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and the Far East
- Why the Afghan people feel the United States is losing the war
- A major new introduction and an all-new final chapter
Review
“[A] valuable and informative work.”—Richard Bernstein, New York Times (on the first edition)
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)
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
Synopsis
"The standard work in English on the Taliban" (Christopher de Bellaigue, New York Review of Books ), by "Pakistan's best and bravest reporter" (Christopher Hitchens, Vanity Fair)
The updated edition of the #1 New York Times bestseller
Correspondent Ahmed Rashid brings the shadowy world of the Taliban--the world's most extreme and radical Islamic organization--into sharp focus in this enormously insightful book. Rashid offers the only authoritative account of the Taliban available to English-language readers, explaining the Taliban's rise to power, its impact on Afghanistan and the Middle East and Central Asia, 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.
In this updated edition, Rashid examines how the Taliban regained its strength; how and why the Taliban spread across Central Asia; how the Taliban helped Al'Qaida's spread into Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and the Far east; and more.
Synopsis
Correspondent Rashid brings the shadowy world of the Taliban--the world's most extreme and radical Islamic organization--into sharp focus in this insightful book.
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.