Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the Fall of the Taliban [Hardcover]

Stephen Tanner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2, 2002

For over 2,500 years, the forbidding territory of Afghanistan has served as a vital crossroads--not only for armies but also for clashes between civilizations. As the United States engages in armed conflict with the current Afghan regime, an understanding of the military history of that blood-soaked land has become essential to every American.Afghanistan's military history provides lessons for us today. The earliest written records inform us of fierce mountain tribes on the "eastern" edge of the cradle of civilization. Alexander the Great conquered Afghanistan on his way from Persia to India. Later, because of its strategic location--the Silk Road passed through its mountainous northern region--Afghanistan was invaded in succession by Arabs, Mongols, and Tartars. In the nineteenth century, Great Britain tried--and failed--to add Afghanistan to its Indian empire, while Russia tried to expand into the same embattled land. Afghanistan once again fought--and defeated --Russia in the 1980's when it tried to prop up a secular government in the face of rising Islamic resistance.Now America must face a new enemy on this land--a land that for centuries has become a graveyard of empires past.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Stephen Tanner's Afghanistan: A Military History recounts with brisk authority and many illuminating analogies the 2,500-year story of a country--for much of that time it was more properly a region--of "incredible beauty" (soldiers liken it to western Colorado) that has been both the "coveted prize of empires" and, more recently, a hideout for international terrorists. What Afghanistan has known for virtually all of its history is war. Tanner tells, with a good narrative eye, of the invasions and occupations of Afghanistan by Cyrus, Alexander, Genghis Khan, Tamerlane, the British (disastrously), and the Soviet Union (only slightly less so), as well as the rise, and fall, of the Taliban, ending the book with a brief, speculative chapter on the country's present and future. Tucked in Tanner's overview are fascinating historical footnotes, including the Afghans' reliance over the centuries on its now-infamous caves, and its brief role in World War II--the Nazis felt a kinship with the blonde, blue-eyed segments of the population. This is a noteworthy and valuable book: accessible, objective, informative, and informed. --H. O'Billovich

From Publishers Weekly

Although the public's interest in Afghanistan-based military operations may be waning, Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the Fall of the Taliban brings readers from the 3rd century B.C.E. (with a nod to the 2,000 years preceding) to the beginnings of Hamed Karzai's government. This secondary source-based account by Stephen Tanner (Epic Retreats: From 1776 to the Evacuation of Saigon) tells the story of this historical crossroads as it passes, violently, from Alexander to the Mongols, the Durrani Empire, the British, the Soviets and Mujahideen, the Taliban, and "the Americans."
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (July 2, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0306811642
• ISBN-13: 978-0306811647
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,033,607 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An adequate historical review, May 23, 2003

By 

Jason McMahan (Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the Fall of the Taliban (Hardcover)

Like others, I read Tanner's book in order to gain a greater familiarity with Afghanistan's military history. In this respect, the book succeeds. Tanner's provides a basic overview of the subject without devling too deeply. At times I did get the impression that the author relied too heavily on secondary sources not just for historical details but analysis as well.

The rich and turbulent history of Afghanistan's history kept my attention until the final three chapters as the author moved away from historical narrative into a contemporary review of recent events which are still too close to offer any real historical judgement. That analysis must be left to the next generation to undertake comprehensively. The book lost further continuity as events related but external to Afghanistan itself were incorporated, including a somewhat detailed account of the events on 9/11 and later terrorist activity throughout the Middle East over the past two years.

I was also troubled by the author's inaccurate characterization of certain events (the most glaring being the US intervention in Somalia and Bush/Clinton's roles in the affair) that I have studied. These flaws place some doubt in my mind as to the accuracy of the rest of the book, especially concerning subjects I am less familiar with and the authors own opinions concerning the US military campaign expressed in the afterword.

This book provides an excellent start for someone looking for an introduction to Afghan military history. Read all except the last 2-3 chapters. Anyone looking for a review and analysis of the US military campaign since 2001 should look elsewhere or wait for a more comprehensive treatment of the subject with better sources thant Western press accounts.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good overview; bad finish, May 28, 2009

By 

R. W. Levesque (Colorado) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the Fall of the Taliban (Hardcover)

Although the first eleven chapters of this book provide a readable overview of the military history of Afghanistan, Tanner uses the last two as a forum for a list of anecdotes he then uses to justify simplistic recommendations on political solutions for the US and its allies in Afghanistan.

After providing an interesting historical narrative of the many peoples, empires, and states that have fought over and within the boundaries of modern Afghanistan Tanner provides a chapter of how the US and its allies pushed the Taliban out of power after 9/11. Unfortunately after eleven chapters of interesting narrative, Tanner's chapter on the US is essentially nothing more than an anecdotal list of problems with the invasion. The chapter is intellectually jarring because methodologically speaking it's very different from what preceded it. It's not until you read the "Afterward" that you realize the anecdotal chapter is a prelude to his pet peeves and simplistic recommendations on how to solve the problem....none of which is tied to the first eleven chapters of his book. Essentially the last two chapters are an op-ed and not related to his work.

This is too bad. I found the bulk of his book interesting (I'm a novice on Afghanistan's military history) and had a hard time putting it down. And I kept looking forward to his conclusion where he would tie together the historical lessons to provide a better understanding of today's events.....not so. And this is what makes the book a weak history - he fails to tie together over 2000 years of military history and its implications.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative and entertaining military history, August 10, 2002

By 

George Enwell (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the Fall of the Taliban (Hardcover)

How did Alexander the Great feel when he viewed Afghan warriors following his every move through the open fields and tight crevasses of Afghanistan? Probably much the same as British Major General William Elphinstone felt centuries later as he led an ill-fated expedition out of Afghanistan, during which all of his 15,000-strong caravan of soldiers died at the hands of Afghans...except for the one man left alive to tell the story.

Across time, Afghanistan has dealt similar harsh lessons to all intruders.

With Afghanistan shoved into the limelight after 9/11, many have been left wondering what kind of people inhabit such a harsh land. When the U.S. military ran out of targets after only a few days of bombing, I know I was asking myself exactly what kind of war we were fighting. Where did the bunkers that Bin Laden hid in come from, and did they have a deeper historical origin? Why did such a wanted man choose that country at all?

If you were wondering similar things, Tanner does an excellent job explaining these and numerous other issues surrounding the military history of Afghanistan. My initial interest was sparked by his previous book about Switzerland (Refuge from the Reich), which supplied fascinating WWII information about a country I've studied at length. The Swiss and the Afghans are actually more similar than many might at first think, as Tanner is sure to point out. With two mountainous regions and two heavily armed populations of varying ethnic groups, their shared struggles and lessons to the world are equally valuable. It is here that Tanner excels--in bridging civilizations and epochs to create understandable history.

Viewed militarily, Afghanistan becomes a shadowy region more often acted-upon than instigating. The warrior Afghans pledge tribe loyalty before all else, helping to explain why it has remained so splintered politically throughout so many centuries. What Tanner does is explain how the invading armies of history first destroy any existing Afghan infrastructure (for often short-sighted military goals), and then immediately suffer at the hands of those they have attempted to subjugate. What emerges is a culture bent on freedom to live unconstrained, even at the hands of an organized government or ideology.

With sections on everyone from Alexander to Ghengis Khan to Queen Victoria to President Bush, Tanner covers the historical spectrum. The generations of military strategists that attacked Afghanistan would find a wealth of common sense lessons from Tanner's book.

Tanner finishes his military history with a look at the American campaign until June of 2002. His conclusions about the accomplishments of the U.S. so far, to both help and hurt our own cause, are worth examination. In particular, his suggestions for a possible political solution, only too briefly explored, hint at an historical precedent to be found in the lessons of the Swiss. Tanner's insights are backed by thousands of years of dangerously cyclical history in dire need of change.

If you're looking for an intelligent, well-written and concise history of Afghanistan, you should not be without this book. Highly recommended for both analysts and novices.