Sandy Gall's Reading List

"Well, it’s terribly funny. I think Eric Newby is one of the best travel writers Britain has ever produced. I love reading this book. I’ve read it two or three times, and each time I fell about laughing. He writes terribly well. Evelyn Waugh actually wrote the preface to this book thinking it was by another Eric Newby, and ended up admiring this one. The book is about Newby and his young diplomat friend who went off on an expedition to Afghanistan [in the 1950s] with the intention of climbing Mir Samir – the highest mountain there – although neither had any experience of mountaineering or had even used a rope before. But they were young, fit and enthusiastic and they very nearly got to the top. Support Five Books Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you're enjoying this interview, please support us by donating a small amount . I think it’s one of the funniest books in the English language. It’s also about a breathtaking expedition – they were terribly brave. Newby wrote some marvellous books, but I think this one is his best. The whole Thesiger meeting is very, very funny. When Newby and his friend blow up their inflatable mattresses, Thesiger says: “You must be a pair of pansies.” It’s a wonderful end to the book – Thesiger striding up the path towards them and then they all camp out together. I’ll defy anyone to read this book and not find it both enchanting and hugely funny. Several laughs a page and beautifully written. It’s still much the same. They went up the Panjshir Valley, which I know very well because that was where Ahmad Shah Massoud was and we filmed him there. So I would say it has changed very little since Newby wrote his book. There is a nice new tarmac road running through the valley that the Americans have built, but basically the people are the same."

"I think it’s one of the classic books about travelling in Afghanistan. Robert Byron is an intellectual – unlike Newby, whose genius is in the way he can see the funny side of everything. Byron is more serious, but they complement one another in a way. Byron goes to places like Herat to look at the minarets. He says the citadel’s minarets were “the most beautiful example of colour in architecture ever devised by man to the glory of his God and himself”. Yes, that’s exactly right and Herat figures as a highlight in the history of Islamic architecture. No, he wasn’t impressed. I think that’s rather strange since I think Bamiyan is magnificent. Although the buddhas have been destroyed, the place to me still has enormous power. There is talk of restoring them. Whether they will do it, I don’t know. This book is a wonderful diary and very amusing. There are lots of wonderful conversations with people he meets on his journey. Byron is a good travelling companion. It’s fun to travel with him and hear what he has to say, although he is quite a snob. Yes. That’s true when it came to the Buddhas of Bamiyan. Of them, he says: “Neither has any artistic value. But one could bear that; it is their negation of sense, their lack of any pride in their monstrous flaccid bulk, that sickens.” It’s very extreme and I wouldn’t agree with any of that at all. But it’s quite entertaining to read, even though you end up thinking what a frightful snob he is. But the book is a must for anyone thinking of travelling to Afghanistan and that part of the world."

"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."

"He was the first Mughal emperor. He was born north of Afghanistan in the Fergana Valley in today’s Uzbekistan. He spent most of his life fighting. When he was a young and up-and-coming princeling he tried to capture Kabul but failed. He captured Delhi in 1526. He then returned to Afghanistan and captured Kabul. Get the weekly Five Books newsletter He always said he wanted to live in Kabul and have it as his capital. He thought it was the most marvellous city in the world and had the best climate anywhere, especially compared with Delhi, which was hot and sticky. He spent as much time as he could in Kabul and he is buried in the city. You can still visit his tomb. Mughals loved gardens, so not only does he have a lovely marble surround to his tomb but it is set in these lovely gardens. Every time I go to Kabul I visit them. They have recently been restored by the Aga Khan, as they fell into a state of disrepair. Yes, he talks about everything. He was a remarkable character. Apparently, every river he came to – including the Ganges – he insisted on swimming across. He was a very good swimmer. He was also enormously strong and it is said he could run up a hill with a man on each of his shoulders."

"Lady Sale was the wife of a very senior British soldier called Brigadier Sale during the first Anglo-Afghan war. They were in Kabul when the whole thing collapsed. The British commander was William Elphinstone, who, it was said, was mostly laid up with gout and couldn’t really function – it’s no wonder that we made such a mess of it. Lady Sale watches all this and this book is her diary of all the things that went wrong. She also could have called her book, “Why It All Went Wrong in Afghanistan”. She largely blames the incompetence of the senior British staff. Elphinstone was unwell for much of the time and she didn’t think much of his number two, who was called Shelton. The book is really a very caustic view of what was going on. She really did know the inside story. Yes, when the British did withdraw from Kabul, the Afghans demanded hostages and Lady Sale became one of them. She was a virtual prisoner, but she survived and was eventually released. She was a very tough old bird. I think that’s absolutely right. Her husband was pretty thick but very brave. But I think she was even tougher than him."