The Afghans
Three Lives Through War, Love, and Revolt
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- $29.99
Publisher Description
A KIRKUS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
"An astonishing feat of writing and reporting and one of the finest books written on Afghanistan in a generation." -Eliza Griswold, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Amity and Prosperity
"A valuable addition to the canon of literature on the country . . . [Seierstad] manages to achieve a rare intimacy." -New York Times Book Review
From the internationally bestselling author of The Bookseller of Kabul, an expansive, deeply felt portrait of Afghanistan, examining the human cost of wars fought, lost, and won.
From Soviet occupation to the rise of the Taliban, from the outbreak of the War on Terror to its disastrous fallout, The Afghans is an extraordinary journey told over the course of three lives. Since she was a girl, Jamila fought tirelessly for her education. At 25, strengthened by the Quran and supported by the flow of international aid that accompanied U.S. invasion, she set off on a campaign to lead Afghanistan to a better future. Meanwhile, teenager Bashir joined the Taliban, eager to kill infidels in a holy war he would one day lead. In their crosshairs, Ariana grew up with hopes of becoming a lawyer-only to have them dashed in 2021 as the U.S. military pulled out and the Taliban retook Kabul, shuttered schools, and wiped the country clean of Western influence.
Taking us through the Taliban's first year in power, The Afghans is an essential contribution to the American reckoning with our longest war and a profound work of empathy for three people shaped by a ruinous battle for the soul of their nation.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Åsne Seierstad’s gripping work of narrative non-fiction traces three lives shaped by decades of war, ideology, and resilience in Afghanistan. Polio kept Jamila from marrying, which meant her father allowed her to study, and years later, she became a champion for women’s rights in the post-Taliban government. Bashir grew up yearning for jihad and spent 20 years fighting in the mountains, ultimately leading Taliban forces before discovering that victory didn’t mean peace. Ariana was weeks from finishing law school when the Taliban’s return crushed her future and pushed her family into survival mode. Seierstad renders each person’s story in vivid human detail, revealing how history collides with personal ambition, loss, and faith. Her compassionate portrait of Ariana’s thwarted potential is heartbreaking, while Bashir’s mix of zeal and disillusion offers rare insight into the Taliban. Unflinching and immersive, this is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand Afghanistan beyond the headlines.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this searing panorama of Afghanistan, journalist Seierstad (The Bookseller of Kabul) surveys the tumultuous period from the rise of the Taliban in the mid-1990s through their ouster after the September 11 attacks, their long guerrilla war against the U.S.-backed government, and their return to power in 2021. She focuses on three protagonists: Jamila Afghani, who defied her family to get an education, eventually starting a women's rights NGO and becoming a government official; Bashir, a Taliban commander who orchestrated bombings and kidnappings; and Ariana, a young law school graduate whose aspirations were stifled when the Taliban retook control. Seierstad gives an extraordinarily intimate portrait of the Taliban, who are motivated by ardent religious faith and endure agonizing sacrifices (Bashir was captured and brutally tortured by government forces). She also investigates the restrictions Afghan society places on women, who are denied education and careers, confined to the home, and sold in marriage ("Mahmoud rang every evening," Seierstad writes of the obsequious yet domineering man whom Ariana's parents are pressuring her to marry. "He was suffocating her with all his nattering" and "his constant refrain ‘I'm doing this for you, just tell me what you want, I will do everything you ask"). It's a gripping, richly textured account of Afghanistan's ordeal that humanizes all sides.
