Product Description

An exploration of the overwhelming complexity of Afghan politics, this title explains how it came in to being, how it is sustained and how Osama bin Laden has risen to such a figure of absolute power. Ahmed Rashid clarifies the often confusing racial and religious tensions that dominate the fractious land, and describes why the drug trade has exacerbated an already untenable situation. Rashid argues that Taliban is incapable of reform, and that, in the crisis after the autumn 2001 suicide plane bombings, it may implode due to defections. With the Northern Alliance an unpredictable alternative, Rashid concludes that without a multi-tribal government in which bordering states do not seek predominant influence, there will never be peace.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33603 in Books
• Published on: 2001-10-26
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 200 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Ahmed Rashid's Taliban: The story of the Afghan Warlords is the single best book available on the subject of the regime in Afghanistan responsible for harbouring the terrorist Osama bin Laden. Rashid is a Pakistani journalist who has spent most of his career reporting on the region--he has personally met and interviewed many of the Taliban's shadowy leaders. Taliban was written and published before the massacres of September 11, 2001, yet it is essential reading for anyone who hopes to understand the aftermath of that black day. It includes details on how and why the Taliban came to power, the government's oppression of ordinary citizens (especially women), the heroin trade, oil intrigue, and--in a vitally relevant chapter--bin Laden's sinister rise to power. These pages contain stories of mass slaughter, beheadings and the Taliban's crushing war against freedom: Under Mullah Omar, it has banned everything from kite flying to singing and dancing at weddings. Rashid is for the most part an objective reporter, though his rage sometimes (and understandably) comes to the surface: "The Taliban were right, their interpretation of Islam was right, and everything else was wrong and an expression of human weakness and a lack of piety", he notes with sarcasm. He has produced a compelling portrait of modern evil. --John Miller

International Herald Tribune
This is a riveting, balanced and well-informed book

Patrick Seale, Sunday Times
Read this remarkable book and the bewildering complexity of Afghan politics,the chaos, narcotics and violence will become clear

Customer Reviews

Excellent and wise introduction to modern Afghanistan
This is good not just for its description of the origins of the Taliban, but also for Afghanistan's recent history and the role the superpowers played. Probably the best starting point if you want answers to the question: "What is going on in Afghanistan today?"

BRILLIANT! IF ONLY ALL JOURNALISTS WERE THIS GOOD.
Decades in preparation, this book presents the current Afghanistan tragedy in historical perspective and with personaL experience detailed in superb style and clarity. I am left wondering how, in a media-dominated global village, I could have remained so ignorant for so long. Essential reading for the post-Sept 11th age.

Taliban: The Story of Afghan Warlords
I was going to be deployed to Afghanistan with the Army and was in a need to gain some solid background knowledge of the situation in the country, after asking around many of my colleagues, they all pretty much recommended this book.

I have subsequently read the book by Ahmed Rashid and was very impressed. This is a must read for all those wishing to learn more about Afghanistan and the troubles this country has faced.