Afghanistan: Calling all Hands for Book Recommendations!

[Hoplite99]

I am doing some research on the history and current conflict in Afghanistan. Any book recommendations on either of these two topics or any related topics pertaining to, would be most welcome! JPW

[Entropy]

Probably the two best books on pre-9/11 Afghanistan are Steve Coll's Ghost Wars, and Louis Dupree's "Afghanistan." The later is quite expensive, but worth it IMO.

For post-9/11 I think it depends on what area you want to focus on - there are a lot of books out there.

[josephcollins22]

Hoplite 99, I recommend my own book, Understanding War in Afghanistan, 2011, NDU Press. It is not the best book, but 1) you can download it for free from the NDU Press website, or put it straight on your kindle or nook, and 2) the last chapter lists a few dozen books with descriptions of their content. Alternatively, try Peter Tomsen's new and massive book on wars of afghanistan. good hunting, joe collins

http://www.ndu.edu/press/understanding-war-in-afghanistan.html

[JMA]

Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979-1989 - Rodric Braithwaite (http://www.amazon.com/Afgantsy-The-Russians-Afghanistan-1979-1989/dp/019983265X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1337385633&sr=1-1)

[Fuchs]

Lester Grau was the institutional author on the Soviets in Afghanistan, if I remember correctly. Stuff such as this:

http://fmso.leavenworth.army.mil/documents/Withdrawal.pdf


http://www.ultimatesniper.com/Docs/48.PDF

[carl]

You have probably already checked this but the Afghan Analysts Network does outstanding work in my opinion, all of it, or most, available at their website.

Not a book but another outstanding source is Free Range International, a blog by a former Marine who was in Afghanistan for years doing NGO work. The archives go back years. The author is about the most sensible westerner around in my civilian opinion.

[JMA]

Lester Grau was the institutional author on the Soviets in Afghanistan, if I remember correctly. Stuff such as this:

http://fmso.leavenworth.army.mil/documents/Withdrawal.pdf


http://www.ultimatesniper.com/Docs/48.PDF

More like this?


The Soviet-Afghan War: How a Superpower Fought and Lost : Lester W. Grau (Translator), Michael A. Gress (Translator)

The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan : Lester W. Grau (Editor)

The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War : Ali Ahmed Jalali (Author), Lester W. Grau (Author)

[Jedburgh]

AREU, 16 Jan 12: Thirty Years of Conflict: Drivers of Anti-Government Mobilisation in Afghanistan 1978-2011 (http://www.areu.org.af/Uploads/EditionPdfs/1203E-Drivers%20of%20Conflict%20IP%202012.pdf)

PRIO, 1 Jan 10: Understanding Warlordism: Three Biographies from Afghanistan's Southeastern Areas (http://www.prio.no/sptrans/-1695453917/Harpviken,%20KB%20(2010)%20Understanding%20warlord ism.pdf)

Also from 2010, CPAU's Conflict Analysis of Badakhshan (http://www.cmi.no/pdf/?file=/afghanistan/doc/ACF280.pdf), Kunduz (http://www.prio.no/sptrans/-1695453917/Harpviken,%20KB%20(2010)%20Understanding%20warlord ism.pdf), and Wardak (http://www.nps.edu/programs/ccs/Docs/Other/Wardak_CPAU09.pdf).

A bit older, but still useful, from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation: Islamists, Leftists – and a Void in the Center. Afghanistan's Political Parties and Where They Come From (1902-2006) (http://www.kas.de/db_files/dokumente/7_dokument_dok_pdf_9674_2.pdf)

And if you can get a hold of the Open Source Center's "Master Narratives" paper on Afghanistan, that is also a useful read.

Finally, another good read is David Edwards' Before Taliban: Genealogies of the Afghan Jihad (http://www.amazon.com/Before-Taliban-Genealogies-Afghan-Jihad/dp/0520228618)

[Bodhi]

There are a lot of great ones out there, but four that come to mind that I found to be particularly interesting are:
---"The Wars of Afghanistan" by Peter Tomsen
---"Afghanistan: A Culturual and Political History" by Thomas Barfield
---"Afghanistan: Graveyard of Empires: A New History of the Borderland" by David Isby
---"Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the War against the Taliban" by Stephen Tanner

I also have to second the three from JMA. All three of those are fantastic reads. "The Soviet-Afghan War: How a Superpower Fought and Lost" would probably be most relevant to your specific research.

[ganulv]

Frederik Barth did fieldwork in the Swat Valley in 1954 and his book Political leadership among Swat Pathans is a canonical monograph for anthropologists.

I have no idea how your bandwidth is, but if it is decent the Penn Museum has made some worth-watching videos available (http://www.youtube.com/user/pennmuseum/videos?query=afghanistan).

[Bullmoose Bailey]

Must recommend Victory Point by Ed Darack, discussed elsewhere on this site by actual experts not small wars novices/junior tacticians such as myself.

Very good journalism; thorough engagement narratives, detailed terrain descriptions, some human interest content, minimal heroic romanticism although the author seems susceptible to the syndrome.

More than anything else the book left me wondering if the war isnt actually between regular and irregular forces.

Clarification: US forces of regular and irregular nature

[Hoplite99]

Hey Thanks All for the Recommendations - Looks like some really great selections out there. Recommendations are very much appreciated! Cheers!