Afghanistan

"He was an American anthropologist and historian who became fascinated by Afghanistan. He spent every summer in the country with his wife Nancy. She’s still alive and has a considerable Afghan archive which she recently moved from Pakistan to Kabul University. This archive has been her life’s work, plus she wrote some excellent guidebooks about Afghanistan, which are fascinating because they describe the country before the Soviet invasion. This book has everything about Afghanistan – I call it the bible. You just need to look at the chapter headings. First of all he talks about the land and the various geographical areas and water resources. He then talks about the people and the various ethnic groups and languages and goes on to write about Afghan poetry, folklore and music – he’s very perceptive and knowledgeable about Pashtun poetry. There is also a large section devoted to history. He starts in prehistoric times before moving on to the spread of Islam and then finishing up in the 20th century. He has historical passages about all the great conquerors and then he goes through the various emperors and rulers right up to the last king, Zahir Shah, who didn’t die all that long ago [2007]. The book ends with the communist revolution in 1978. You have the whole of Afghanistan here – all the customs, the history and the different areas and ethnic groups. If you want to know anything, you just need to refer to the index and it’s there. It’s a fantastic travelling companion too – although quite heavy. It is still very relevant. If, for example, you want to read how the Durrani Empire was created or about the Anglo-Afghan wars, he’s got wonderful accounts of these. He’s a very good historian and writes very well. He did an awful lot of research, so it’s very reliable."