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Summary
Summary
In this powerful book, David B. Edwards traces the lives of three recent Afghan leaders in Afghanistan's history--Nur Muhammad Taraki, Samiullah Safi, and Qazi Amin Waqad--to explain how the promise of progress and prosperity that animated Afghanistan in the 1960s crumbled and became the present tragedy of discord, destruction, and despair. Before Taliban builds on the foundation that Edwards laid in his previous book, Heroes of the Age, in which he examines the lives of three significant figures of the late nineteenth century--a tribal khan, a Muslim saint, and a prince who became king of the newly created state.
In the mid twentieth century, Afghans believed their nation could be a model of economic and social development that would inspire the world. Instead, political conflict, foreign invasion, and civil war have left the country impoverished and politically dysfunctional. Each of the men Edwards profiles were engaged in the political struggles of the country's recent history. They hoped to see Afghanistan become a more just and democratic nation. But their visions for their country were radically different, and in the end, all three failed and were killed or exiled. Now, Afghanistan is associated with international terrorism, drug trafficking, and repression. Before Taliban tells these men's stories and provides a thorough analysis of why their dreams for a progressive nation lie in ruins while the Taliban has succeeded. In Edwards's able hands, this culturally informed biography provides a mesmerizing and revealing look into the social and cultural contexts of political change.
Author Notes
David B. Edwards is Professor of Anthropology at Williams College. He is the author of Heroes of the Age: Moral Fault Lines on the Afghan Frontier (California, 1996).
Reviews (2)
Choice Review
Standing as a companion volume to the author's previous book, Heroes of the Age: Moral Fault Lines on the Afghan Frontier (CH, Apr'97), this new volume covers recent political events and circumstances in Afghanistan (1978 to the rise of the Taliban regime). Each book focuses on three political actors who played important roles at key junctures in the long-term conflict over Afghanistan. The first volume covers the turn of the 20th century, while this one details the rise of the Soviet-influenced regime, tribal and other insurrections against the Marxist state, and emerging Islamic political parties. Both books take a genealogical approach to Afghan history and examine the complex underlying structure of events. Before Taliban (a title chosen after September 11, 2001 because of world attention on Afghanistan and the role the Taliban regime played with regard to al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden) is based on the author's interviews in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the US with many key Afghan political figures. The book is highly recommended for readers at all levels who want to understand the complicated historical and political developments in this region. Carrying Edwards's historical account forward, Ahmed Rashid's book Taliban (2000) is also recommended. All collections. L. Beck Washington University
Library Journal Review
In 1987, the Afghan Media Resource Center (AMRC) of Williams College, based in Peshawar, Pakistan, sent photographers and journalists to cover the tail end of the war with the Soviets. At the time, the center accumulated massive archives of videotapes, photographs, and press articles, later brought back for digitization and used as primary sources for this book. An expert in violence and culture, Edwards (anthropology, Willams Coll.) takes a genealogical approach to history not only in terms of relationships but "moral responsibility," adding a cultural aspect to politics. He began this process with his first book, Heroes of the Age: Moral Fault Lines on the Afghan Frontier. With this book, he continues to piece together relationships that have shaped Afghanistan's past, present, and inevitably its future by following the lives of three Afghan leaders: Nur Muhammad Taraki, Samiullah Safi, and Qazi Amin Waqad. He introduces significant persons, parties, and uprisings, bringing us to the point where Taliban and Topakan were created. Filled with photographs and maps that document the stories told, this book provides a rare and timely account of politics and culture in Afghanistan. An essential research tool in academic and research libraries. Ethan P. Pullman, Univ. of Pittsburgh Lib., PA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
| List of Illustrations Significant Persons and Parties |
| Preface |
| 1 Introduction: Into Forbidden Afghanistan |
| Part One The Saur Revolution |
| 2 Lives of the Party |
| 3 The Armature of Khalqi Power Coda: The Death of a President |
| Part Two The Pech Uprising |
| 4 A Son of Safi |
| 5 Anatomy of a Tribal Uprising Coda: The Death of a Safi Daughter |
| Part Three The Islamic Jihad |
| 6 The Muslim Youth |
| 7 Fault Lines in the Afghan Jihad Coda: The Death of Majrooh |
| Epilogue: Topakan and Taliban |
| Glossary |
| Bibliography |
| Index |