1960s
20th century
A01=David B. Edwards
afghanistan
Author_David B. Edwards
biographical
Category=DNBM
Category=GTM
Category=JHM
Category=JPHL
Category=NHF
civil war
cultural studies
drug trafficking
economics
economy
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
history
international terrorism
islam
life story
middle east
middle eastern
middle eastern history
muslim
nur muhammad taraki
political conflict
politics
progress
qazi amin waqad
repression
samiullah safi
social change
social development
social progress
social studies
taliban
terrorism
true story
world history
Product details
- ISBN 9780520228610
- Weight: 590g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 02 Apr 2002
- Publisher: University of California Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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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.
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).
