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ben_r's review against another edition
4.0
Make it 4.5. A must read for anyone interested in this country of mountains and rivers and warring tribes.
ajkhn's review against another edition
4.0
Thomas Barfield is probably one of the foremost American scholars of Afghanistan, and he's been doing it for long before it was politically relevant. And his book really shows this, cutting through 500 years of history in 350 pages. Barfield is concise when he needs to be, chatty when he needs to be, and does a good job connecting threads and generally making things logical and readable. For an intro to Afghanistan -- or if you're going to read one book about Afghanistan -- this is probably it.
At the same time, I think it's somewhat obvious that there are ellidations to bring the book to a conversational level and there are some clear editorial nudgings towards "Hey Tom! Make this about Terrorism!" that he accepts begrudgingly. I'd rather he have had 600 pages then to try and crush everything down into a book you can easily be seen carrying.
Some of the historiography, especially, seems rushed. He keeps on mentioning ibn Khaldun without mentioning any of the historians that come from his tree of theory. This really flies in the face of "Islam is an always-changing religion with an always-changing story", which is one of his biggest points. The constant references back to Khaldun come at the expense of constantly updating Khaldun and adjusting how Afghans saw themselves in the world order. It makes things too black and white when he's spending many of his words impressing upon the many shades of gray.
So it's a great introduction. Barfield knows this stuff way better than I do, and is certainly one of the few people you can lean back and trust in a book about Afghanistan. There are quibbles, of course, but goodness, there are quibbles about everything. Don't let that stop you.
At the same time, I think it's somewhat obvious that there are ellidations to bring the book to a conversational level and there are some clear editorial nudgings towards "Hey Tom! Make this about Terrorism!" that he accepts begrudgingly. I'd rather he have had 600 pages then to try and crush everything down into a book you can easily be seen carrying.
Some of the historiography, especially, seems rushed. He keeps on mentioning ibn Khaldun without mentioning any of the historians that come from his tree of theory. This really flies in the face of "Islam is an always-changing religion with an always-changing story", which is one of his biggest points. The constant references back to Khaldun come at the expense of constantly updating Khaldun and adjusting how Afghans saw themselves in the world order. It makes things too black and white when he's spending many of his words impressing upon the many shades of gray.
So it's a great introduction. Barfield knows this stuff way better than I do, and is certainly one of the few people you can lean back and trust in a book about Afghanistan. There are quibbles, of course, but goodness, there are quibbles about everything. Don't let that stop you.
brannigan's review against another edition
3.0
I knew shamefully little about this country that has dominated international relations for the past decade or so, but this book has thankfully rectified that.
Afghanistan is a complex and historically rich country, and it's a shame that people only really associate it with the Taliban nowadays. This book deals with that well: tellingly, the section on the history of Taliban rule in Afghanistan is only a few pages long, which is fitting as they've only been around since the mid-1990s.
I must admit, I skipped quite a bit of the 19th-century history. British colonial history turns me off, and I was itching to get to the PDPA and Soviet intervention. Still, I expect I will come back to this book in the future - it's an invaluable historical source and will serve me well for many years.
Barfield is an anthropologist by trade and it really shows in his ethnographical survey of the different tribes, their interactions and ways of life. I now have more of an appreciation of the heterogeneity of Afghanistan's groups, and the paradox of Afghan nationality and unity.
Four thumbs up.
Afghanistan is a complex and historically rich country, and it's a shame that people only really associate it with the Taliban nowadays. This book deals with that well: tellingly, the section on the history of Taliban rule in Afghanistan is only a few pages long, which is fitting as they've only been around since the mid-1990s.
I must admit, I skipped quite a bit of the 19th-century history. British colonial history turns me off, and I was itching to get to the PDPA and Soviet intervention. Still, I expect I will come back to this book in the future - it's an invaluable historical source and will serve me well for many years.
Barfield is an anthropologist by trade and it really shows in his ethnographical survey of the different tribes, their interactions and ways of life. I now have more of an appreciation of the heterogeneity of Afghanistan's groups, and the paradox of Afghan nationality and unity.
Four thumbs up.
nataalia_sanchez's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
andy_acid's review
3.5
Despite being in the mood for reading some world history, this book felt pretty heavy-handed and super dense or maybe I had considered the history of Afghanistan from the medieval to 2012 as somewhat short and manageable to complete in a few days without noting it down thoroughly. I am regretting my decision to pick up this book as I was largely interested in Afghan history before and during the cold war till now.
I also didn't like how the author had written, it was structured as story-like and not too convenient to memorise and understand the dense details.
3. 5 stars for now(although it's kind of my fault..)
P.S- Need to reread this when I get plenty of time
I also didn't like how the author had written, it was structured as story-like and not too convenient to memorise and understand the dense details.
3. 5 stars for now(although it's kind of my fault..)
P.S- Need to reread this when I get plenty of time
roach's review
informative
slow-paced
4.0
Afghanistan sits in a dangerous neighborhood and its people are justly
proud of their historical ability to maintain their autonomy. [...] Living in a
land whose crossroads status has been as much a curse as a blessing, Afghans have cultivated a pufferfish strategy to repel outsiders.
The Middle East has always been a gap in my education and I felt like finally fixing that a little bit by reading this very comprising book on the history of Afghanistan. Thomas Barfield covers a very long stretch of time and fills the book with very information-dense text chronicling the major happenings in the country throughout centuries.
It definitely helped me get a better perspective on the country, and presented more than enough interesting people and events for me to want to learn more about. Although it felt to me like the balance was a bit too much on the political history and didn't cover too much of the cultural aspect.
There is so much ground to be covered that I did wish at points that it would look a bit closer at certain events, but that would also make this already fairly thick book even heavier. As a first comprehensive overview of Afghanistan's long and complicated history, it's already very expansive with much to take away from.
Barfield seems genuinely personally invested in the history of the country but manages to tell the story from a rather objective perspective.
gstarfelt's review
4.0
This book has helped me make immeasurably more sense of our current engagement in Afghanistan. Though it doesn't go into quite as much historical detail as I would like, it moves quite well and still managed to acquaint me with the major themes in Afghan history and the people and cultures that have shaped that nation. It left me hungry for a much longer, more detailed work, which is no bad thing.
beerqueer91's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0