Essential Field Guides to Humanitarian and Conflict Zones: Afghanistan [Paperback]

Edward Girardet (Editor), Jonathan Walter (Editor)

Product Details

• Paperback: 524 pages
• Publisher: Media Action International; 2nd edition (February 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 2970017601
• ISBN-13: 978-2970017608
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,646,691 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Edward Girardet is a journalist, writer and producer who has reported from numerous humanitarian and conflict zones in Africa, Asia and elsewhere since the late 1970s. As a foreign correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor, US News and World Report, and The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour based in Paris, he first began covering Afghanistan several months prior to the Soviet invasion in 1979. He has worked on numerous television current affairs and documentary segments on subjects ranging from the war in Angola to lost tribes in Western New Guinea and environmental issues in Africa for major European and North American broadcasters. Girardet is afounding director of the Institute for Media and Global Governance in Geneva, Switzerland. He is also editor of Crosslines Essential Media Ltd (UK).

Girardet has written widely for major publications such as National Geographic Magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, International Herald Tribune, Financial Times and other media on humanitarian, media and conflict issues. He has also written and edited several books, notably Afghanistan - The Soviet War (1985), Somalia, Rwanda and Beyond (1996), Populations in Danger (1996), and The CROSSLINES Essential Field Guide to Afghanistan (1998, 2004 and 2006). Girardet lives with his family in Cessy, France near the Swiss border with Geneva.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Update on the Essential Field Guide to Afghanistan, October 4, 2001

By 

Girardet, Edward (Geneva, Switzerland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Essential Field Guides to Humanitarian and Conflict Zones: Afghanistan (Paperback)

CROSSLINES ESSENTIAL FIELD GUIDE TO AFGHANISTAN

Published by CROSSLINES Global Report and Media Action International (formerly the International Centre for Humanitarian Reporting-ICHR)

The Crosslines Essential Field Guide to AFGHANISTAN Is the only detailed guidebook dealing with the current situation of the country available in English. Although certain elements in the book have been overtaken by recent events, the field guide is still essential reading for all journalists, aid workers, diplomats and military personnel operating in the region or otherwise interested in Afghanistan. Journalists and relief workers from the BBC, TIME, UNHCR, UNICEF and other media or aid groups have already informed us that the Essential Guide to AFGHANISTAN is the best thing going for quick and informed background information.

The book features over 500 pages of political, humanitarian and military analysis, biographies of key Taliban and opposition players, essential information briefs on agriculture, medical relief, environment, culture etc. as well as all regions of the country, street maps, advice on health and security, phrasebooks in Persian and Pashto, contact details for diplomats, aid agencies and journalists. Specially commissioned essays written leading experts analyse the country's political, military, humanitarian, and cultural situation. All country data was collated through first hand field research the editors.

The editors are Edward Girardet (a journalist and former correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor; also author of Afghanistan - the Soviet War) and Jonathan Walter (a former officer with the British Army's Brigade of Gurkhas, and editor of the World Disasters Report)

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Afghanistan fieldguide tells the full story, October 25, 2001

By 

Erin L. Mayhew (Boston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Essential Field Guides to Humanitarian and Conflict Zones: Afghanistan (Paperback)

Crosslines Essential Field Guide to Afghanistan tells the full story about Afghanistan in a way I can't find in any other book. Whether it's politics, culture or humanitarian information you're after - it's all in there. I never realised how big those Buddhas were that the Taliban blew up until I saw a picture in this book! If you want to understand more about the country at the centre of world news, this is the book to buy!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Guidebook, Now in an Updated Version, April 15, 2006

By 

Kenneth J. Dillon (Washington, D.C. USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Essential Field Guides to Humanitarian and Conflict Zones: Afghanistan (Paperback)

The new (2005)edition of this guide brings the story up to 2004 and contains ample documentation regarding the struggling new democracy of Afghanistan. The writing is rich in colorful, touching, scary, revealing details that tend to get filtered out of official and semi-official reports. I found the discussions of deforestation, landmines, and security particularly helpful. Written from a European perspective, the book provides many useful suggestions for travel in Afghanistan that usefully complement advice from American sources.