28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Complete History of Afghanistan, September 27, 2005
Martin Ewans, who previously served as a British diplomat in Afghanistan, is clearly someone who is very knowledegable of Afghan history and its people. However, the title "A Short History" may be a bit misleading, as this is, in fact, a thorough examination of Afghan history with some rather dense writing. Certainly it is more for those seriously interested in the subject matter rather than the casual reader.
Another thing to consider is that this book covers Afghanistan from its earliest days to the modern era. Personally, I was most interested in Afghanistan's ancient history as well as the contemporary period, especially the Taliban and the current U.S. military presence. Instead its ancient history is only briefly discussed, with the bulk of the book being devoted to the 1800's and 1900's. The book does offer substantial and insightful coverage of the Soviet occupation, the mujahidin and the Taliban. But, since the book was written in 2002, it's not completely up to date on what is currently happening in Afghanistan. So someone primarily interested in post-Taliban Afghanistan might do better with one of the many books devoted solely to the contemporary era.
Still Ewans is a extremely intelligent man and has tremendous amounts of information and insight to convey regarding Afgan history. This one is worth reading for those with a serious interest in the country
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A pithy review, March 4, 2006
This review is from: Afghanistan: A Short History of Its People and Politics (Paperback)
I liked this book, had no problem reading it, and recommend it. Presumably when reviewers refer to it as "dry", they mean in comparison to such popular histories as Peter Hopkirk's fascinating "The Great Game". But, Hopkirk's point of view lends to the events an air of "the plucky British soldiers" fighting against "incredible odds" in their 19th century incursions into Afghanistan. What happened is that the disciplined British military with the aid of superior tactics and weaponry massacred numerous Afghanis in their quest to keep their Indian empire secure (from a Russian invasion that might never have occurred anyway), and, in due course, suffered some massacres of their own. I don't suggest Hopkirk whitewashed these events. Rather, he knows a story is more appealing with "heros" and "villains", and constructing these is how the very readable "The Great Game" makes a century of fairly detailed Central Asian history palatable.
Ewans's book lacks heros and villains. It's briefer and is consciously even-handed, written with a diplomat's grasp of how the personalities of leaders and the policies of powerful countries towards poor ones steer events. If you want a pithy review of Afghanistan's interactions with the world's great powers, its politics, and the succession of leaders from Dost Mohammed forward, this is your book. It certainly served me well.
Weaknesses of this book include, first, the sketchiness of the pre-19th century history and, second, a sharp focus on leaders and politics giving little idea of how ordinary Afghans lived, especially in rural areas (that is, until the closing chapters dealing with the Communist government, Soviet invasion, and regimes of the Mujahidin and Taliban). I'd like to know more about life in and leaders of the powerful rural tribes, who for 150 years have erected road blocks to the policies of kings, prime ministers, and presidents.
One source for conditions in the country-side are the travelogues of 20th century adventurers: Robert Byron "The road to Oxiana" (1930s - 6 stars out of a possible 5, though about 2/3s of that book concerns Iran), Eric Newby "A short walk in the Hindu Kush" (1950s - humor in the mountains), and Peter Levi "The light garden of the angel king" (1970s - next on my stack to read, but seems highly regarded by all).
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Survey, July 9, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Afghanistan: A Short History of Its People and Politics (Paperback)
This is a great book for readers interested in a brief survey of Afghanistan's political history and foreign relations from ancient times to 9/11. Author Ewans, a retired British diplomat who served in Kabul, writes superbly, stays focused on issues that are important and interesting, and has a droll sense of the role played by stupidity in foreign affairs. The highlights are the chapters on Anglo-Afghan relations in the 19th century and the Soviet occupation and civil war in the 1980s and 1990s. Ewans does stumble in early chapters that reshash boring dynastic histories from the middle ages (hence my rating of four stars), but this is the only flaw in an otherwise excellent book.
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