Customer Reviews

The History of Afghanistan (The Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations)

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This is a great book for an introduction to Afghanistan and is an all-inclusive text that presents an entire history of the country and the rulers that have governed throughout Afghanistan. The book primarily focuses on the 20th century and gives great detail such recent events as the Soviet invasion, and I think many readers will be as surprised as I was about the origin of the Taliban. It is clear the author did a great deal of research and references multiple sources to provide an unbiased look into Afghanistan.



Major points in the book describe how modern Afghanistan is a melting pot of a multitude of cultures, tribes, and political influences all under the guiding belief of Islam. The author repeatedly stresses that due to the country's strategic location along the crucial trade routes between Central Asia and the Middle East, Afghanistan has suffered repeated conquests throughout its tumultuous history. In spite of this, Afghanistan has proven to be a resilient force in the face of long term conquests, as the United States is experiencing today.



The book includes helpful tools such as a general timeline for the country, Notable Figures in Afghanistan, glossary, and bibliography. Chapters of the book include "An Introduction to Afghanistan: The Land and People," "Prehistory," "Early Civilization and the Nomadic People of Afghanistan," "Greek Hellenistic Culture to the Introduction of Islam," "The Mongolian Invasion through the Shah Dynasty," "The Soviet Invasion and the Afghan Civil War, 1979-1992," "Fundamentalism and the Taliban Regime, 1992-2001" and "Democracy and the Future of Afghanistan."



Overall it is a quick read on the country - the book is actually about 150 pages - so if you want really in depth material this probably isn't for you. However, this is a great starting place for those wanting to gain more understanding on the country, the current focus on modern events and conflicts, and even on overall world history - highly recommend this book even for just background information on Afghanistan.

I found this book to be an excellent source for an overview of Afghanistan's history and development as the country it is today. The book covers the complete history of Afghanistan and touches upon the important historical formation of the country and describes the influences of such leaders as Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan. This is an excellent source for the information provided about these leaders and their experiences as rulers in this region.

The later half of the book examines the 20th Century events and forces that influenced the politics of the United States throughout multiple presidencies, including the Soviet Invasion, the rise of the Taliban, and the circumstances facing Afghanistan today. This is a great read to reveal the hidden side of Afghanistan through a chronological narrative of the country, and a complete examination of Afghanistan's history from pre civilization to present day.

Runion's book is a solid introduction to the history of Afghanistan, and provides an overall framework for anyone looking to get deeper into the history and politics of the region. While some sections are slow to read, the last five chapters convey the importance of understanding the culture of Afghanistan - learn from the past to help fix the future. I recommend this book for students, diplomats, policy makers, and anyone else looking for a foundation in afghan history. One cannot influence and help assist the Afghans without understanding their culture.

As some reviews have mentioned, the book layout is a bit off. It's mentioned in the book introduction that each chapter begins with a summary - missing this key detail could make it confusing. Since the chapter summary is not clearly separated, the line is blurred where the summary ends and the chapter content begins. Knowing this upfront will help you focus as you read the book, otherwise it seems the author is jumping back and forth in the timeline. Personally I liked this book, had no problem reading it, and recommend it.

I am not an expert in this field, and thus will not comment upon the content of the book. I hold no ill-will toward the author and truly regret the pain that this review will cause, but Runion's writing skills leave much to be desired. I'm not talking nit-picking--I'm talking fundamental problems with sentence construction and word choice. I'm talking every page. This is more than a distraction--there are many passages that leave one puzzled. I was going to cite some examples here but there's no point in rubbing it in. Runion, I apologize for being so blunt but for the hefty price of this slim volume one expects better writing. Shame on Greenwood, and shame on the series editors for not giving this author the assistance he/she needs.

The Good: In a typical Western education, whether it's intentional or not, vast areas of the world get skipped over, so that you realize as a Western student that you know precious little about them. Afghanistan is one such nation, as it was not in my consciousness, like most other Americans until the events of 2001. Runion here gives a insightful overview of a country that you probably know almost nothing about.

The Bad: It's a very brief overview, and written at probably a 12th grade level. As you get towards the more modern history of Afghanistan, it becomes perfectly clear that this book was written for an American who wanted to know more about Afghanistan after 2001. If that is your only purpose for this book, your fine, but if you are a history student like myself, you find vast other eras of history getting the short shrift.

The ugly: The chronology of this book jumps all over the place, and the areas the author chooses to focus on are sometimes puzzling. Even though Afghanistan was a neutral nation during WWI and WWII, those wars are discussed in a paragraph. More irritating than that is the authors style of presaging the next section. She'll say something like:

"That king ruled until the war was over in 1967".

Then the next section will begin:

"The war of regicidal independence began in 1960".

This is fairly common, and has the reader sometimes struggling to put their mindset back into chronological order.

For an introductory history to Afghanistan, this serves it's purpose, but it will probably pique rather than satiate your search for knowledge, which may have been the author's point all along.