afghanistan a short history of its people and politics
a fascinating chronicle of a nations turbulent history . p reaching back to earliest times martin ewans examines the historical evolution of one of todays most dangerous breeding grounds of global terrorism . after a succession of early dynasties and the emergence of an afghan empire during the eighteenth century the nineteenth and early twentieth century saw a fierce power struggle between russia and britain for supremacy in afghanistan that was ended by the nations proclamation of independence in 1919 . a communist coup in the late 1970s overthrew the established regime and led to the invasion of soviet troops in 1979 . roughly a decade later the soviet union withdrew condemning afghanistan to a civil war that tore apart the nations last remnants of religious ethnic and political unity . it was into this climate that the taliban was born . p today war torn and economically destitute afghanistan faces unique challenges as it looks toward an uncertain future . martin ewans carefully weighs the lessons of history to provide a frank look at afghanistans prospects and the international resonances of the nations immense task of total political and economic reconstruction .
examines the history people politics religion geography and culture of afghanistan offering a revealing portrait of the war ravaged nation and the taliban regime and including new information covering events up to spring 2002 .