Fire in Afghanistan: Faith Hope and the British Empire [Hardcover]

Rhea Talley Stewart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1973

This is the detailed account, told in novelistic style but totally factual, of King Amanullah of Afghanistan (1919-1929) who attempted to advance his country into the Twentieth Century, very fast, and was expelled by forces very similar to the Taleban who have taken over most of Afghanistan today.....with a little help from the British. This is one of three Western books since 1815 to be translated into Pushtu, the language of the Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

I am the author of FIRE in AFGHANISTAN, which has made its appearance in a second edition with the subtitle "The first opening to the West undone by tribal ferocity years before the Taliban." This is an updating of the first edition published in 1973. Readers may be interested in the atttiude of Afghans toward me as a result of this book. It has varied with the political climate.

On first publication FIRE in AFGHANISTAN was sold under the counter, and a subsequent head of government told me that the royal family sent agents around Kabul to buy up all copies. King Amanullah, the protagonist, was a non-person in official Afghanistan, for the current king was the son of the royal cousin who took over the throne after Amanullah's enforced flight. I have been told that I would have been denied a visa to Afghanistan during that period, had I asked for one When I did go back to Kabul, in 1979, I was the fair-haired girl. The government had been taken over by two pro-Communist . groups. Excerpts from FIRE in AFGHANISTAN had been published in the newspapers and read over the radio. In its desire to demonize the regime which it replaced, this government happily glorified King Amanullah. I interviewed the head of state and any one else I wished to see. I was a friend. And I was still a friend on my next visit, when my interview with the head of state was recorded and the next day the taxi-drivers and shop-keepers greeted me by name. That interview had been played over radio, translated in both Pushtu and Farsi. I had been surprised that Hafizullah Amin had abstained from the anti-American sentiments I expected. It turned out that this man was living on the edge of a volcano and was trying to send a message to the United States, "Help me." A month after my visit, in December. 1980, Soviet troops openly marched in.,. murdered Amin and took over Afghanistan.

For the next ten years my sympathy was with the tribesmen fighting the Russians on the frontier with Pakistan.Presumably the Russian-dominated rulers in Kabul still liked my book.....well, they must have, because they erected on many walls heroic-size pictures of King Amanullah and other personages who played a role therein. I saw these pictures on my most recent visit in 1991 when again I met the head of state, and again he was killed not shortly thereafter in the triumph of frenzied fundamentalists who became known as the Taliban. The Taliban would hate FIRE in AFGHANISTAN....if only most of them could read --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Rhea Talley Stewart began an award-winning journalism career in her native Virginia. She made many visits to Afghanistan and did extensive research in the India Office Library in London to produce a book admired by Afghans, who had been prevented by politics from hearing the complete story themselves. She lives in a retirement community in Hartfort CT. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 614 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday; 1st edition (1973)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 038508742X
• ISBN-13: 978-0385087421
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,043,167 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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