Can anyone recommend a book about Afghanistan?

[beansmum]

Something like a history of the area, not just recent history. Waterstones had nothing.

Bumping for you.

Book Sellers of Kabul cant remember author

Definitely The Bookseller of Kabul (by Asne Seierstad)

It's not non-fiction but gives a very good insight into life there, as the quote on the front says: An intimate portrait of Afghani people quite unlike any other... a compelling read.

hmm, not really what I was looking for, thanks though.

Would The Road to Kandahar by Jason Burke be a good place to start? If nothing else, it will probably have a good bibliography at the back, which you can use to find other books.

It is recent history, though.

Also fiction but written by an Afghan is the Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns which give a good feeling for what it was like living there perhaps?

a list am trying to remember the name of a guy who wrote a fantastic book book on Afghanistan where he travelled before all this started and has been back since

also all the J. Burke books are very informative

Thanks, I'll try The Road to Kandahar. I've read The Kite Runner but couldn't get into the other one at all, maybe I'll give it another go.

I've just ordered a book by Robert Fisk about the Middle East but I think it only goes back about 30 years. Hopefully it will have a good bibliography too.

this is what I want. Now I just need to find it somewhere.