Covering wars and conflicts of Afghanistan from the modern founding of the country in the 1700s to the contemporary struggle with the Taliban, this single-volume reference analyzes the causes and results of Afghanistan's wars and examines leading political and military figures, weapons, and tactics. • Provides readers with a thorough background on the wars of Afghanistan that allows them to understand the influence of past conflicts on current strife • Enables a more complete appreciation of the ethnic and religious complexities that fuel the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan • Examines how past Afghan conflicts contributed to the rise of terrorism and figures such as Osama bin Laden • Presents an accessible explanation of the "Great Game" for power and influence by imperial Russia and Great Britain in the 1800s and the impact of this contest on Afghanistan
Afghanistan has been a strategic prize for foreign empires for more than 200 years. The British, Russians, and Americans have all fought across its beautiful and inhospitable terrain, in conflicts variously ruthless, misguided and bloody. This violent history is the subject of David Loyn's magisterial book. It is a history littered with misunderstandings and broken promises, in which the British, the Russians, and later the Americans, constantly underestimated the ability of the Afghans. In Afghanistan brilliantly brings to life the personalities involved in Afghanistan's relationship with the world, chronicling the misunderstandings and missed opportunities that have so often led to war. With 30 years experience as a foreign correspondent, David Loyn has had a front-row seat during Afghanistan's recent history. In Afghanistan draws on David Loyn's unrivalled knowledge of the Taliban and the forces that prevail in Afghanistan, to provide the definitive analysis of the lessons these conflicts have for the present day.
The blow to British pride and confidence caused by the crushing defeat of their army in Afghanistan during the winter of 1841/2 compares in its impact to the disaster in New York on 11 September 2001. The British had replaced a popular and effective monarch with a weak one in the mistaken belief that he would keep the Russians at bay. Two years later, nearly all the British and Indian soldiers in the region were killed in a popular uprising.Margaret Kekewichs perceptive new study of the conflict describes the British defeat, their reoccupation of Afghanistan in the spring of 1842, then their final withdrawal at the end of the year. Her account, which is based on the graphic diaries written by two British eyewitnesses, gives a fascinating insight into the conflict in Afghanistan 150 years ago.The story is told by, first, Lady Sale who together with over 100 women, children and soldiers was captured and imprisoned by the Afghans. The second account comes from the Reverend Allen, a young chaplain to the army that invaded Afghanistan in April 1842 to avenge British humiliation and rescue the prisoners. Both these eyewitnesses deplored the follies that had led to war and defeat and also the suffering that was inflicted on many innocent Afghans.At a time when British forces are deeply engaged in another war in Afghanistan, Margaret Kekewich offers a balanced and thought-provoking new perspective on a previous conflict in the region.
This work reports on a real adventure in earth science and conservation, dealing with the UNESCO’s emergency activities implemented in Bamiyan (Central Afghanistan) for the recovery and rehabilitation of the cliff and niches after the destruction of the two famous Giant Statues in 2001. Since 2002 an international effort has been made to understand the geological characteristics of the area, the mechanical properties of local materials, petro-geophysical and sedimentological details as well as the historical and geological evolution of the Statues and cliff. Taken together, this information serves as a basis for the recovery and rehabilitation of the cliff and niches and is presented in detail.
This book examines the British Indian Army during the later colonial era, from the First Afghan War in 1839 to Indian independence in 1947. During this period, it developed from an internal policing force to a frontier army, and later to a conventional Western-style fighting force.
Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan, Fifth Edition contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has more than 1,000 cross-referenced entries on important personalities as well as aspects of the country’s politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture.
This new fourth edition has been substantially expanded because so much has taken place in such a short period of time. The most important changes, however, have been made to the dictionary section, with hundreds of added or substantially revised entries on important people, places, events, institutions, practices, ethnic and religious groups, political parties, and Islamist movements, as well as significant aspects of Afghanistan's politics, economy, society, and culture.
All the information currently available on the endless chain of wars stretching over two and a half centuries is traced in The A to Z of Afghan Wars, Revolutions and Insurgencies. It consists of the American involvement in Afghanistan since October 2001 as well as individual campaigns, including tactics and logistics of skirmishes, the weapons used, and biographical entries on the significant leaders involved in the battles. Extensive analysis of regional and ideological divisions within the country and the external forces that have brought around conflict in this remote, mountainous region, in addition to a chronology of the encounters, an extensive bibliography, and numerous maps and illustrations make this crucial volume indispensable.
For over 2,500 years, the forbidding territory of Afghanistan has served as a vital crossroads for armies and has witnessed history-shaping clashes between civilizations: Greek, Arab, Mongol, and Tartar, and, in more recent times, British, Russian, and American. When U.S. troops entered Afghanistan in the weeks following September 11, 2001, they overthrew the Afghan Taliban regime and sent the terrorists it harbored on the run. But America's initial easy victory is in sharp contrast to the difficulties it faces today in confronting the Taliban resurgence. Originally published in 2002, Stephen Tanner's Afghanistan has now been completely updated to include the crucial turn of events since America first entered the country.
During the 19th century Britain entered into three brutal wars with Afghanistan, each one saw the British trying and failing to gain control of a warlike and impenetrable territory. The first two wars (1839–42 and 1878–81) were wars of the Great Game; the British Empire's attempts to combat growing Russian influence near India's borders. The third, fought in 1919, was an Afghan-declared holy war against British India – in which over 100,000 Afghans answered the call, and raised a force that would prove too great for the British Imperial army. Each of the three wars were plagued by military disasters, lengthy sieges and costly engagements for the British, and history has proved the Afghans a formidable foe and their country unconquerable. This book reveals the history of these three Anglo-Afghan wars, the imperial power struggles that led to conflict and the torturous experiences of the men on the ground. The book concludes with a brief overview of the background to today's conflict in Afghanistan, and sketches the historical parallels.
