It is definitely not a book without merit, but the places in between is just so much more. A cultural and political history, i hoped to find that answer and at the same time, that the book wouldnt be too dry or heavy on political rhetoric. Afghanistan traces the historic struggles and the changing nature of political authority in this volatile region of the world, from the mughal empire in the 16th century to the taliban resurgence today. Thomas barfield introduces readers to the bewildering diversity of tribal and ethnic groups in afghanistan, explaining what unites them as afghans despite the regional. Afghanistans crossroads position in central asia has subjected it to constant invasion and conquest throughout its long recorded history. Jan 09, 2017 there are several books that are excellent in covering different aspects of afghanistans history. Barfields cultural and political history of afghanistan acts as a solid introduction to those who havent a clue as to the countrys past before the headlines of the 21st century. Aug 07, 20 journal of world history, march 20 afghanistan. The best books on afghanistan recommended by thomas barfield.
Going back to early human civilization, many empires resided in this country. From 291911 to 361918 he edited the newspaper seraj ala. To understand afghan society, read before taliban and heroes of the age by david edwards, and afghanistan. Doug bandow, washington times a brilliant book to educate all of us about a country we should know and appreciate. This countrys history is so vast some experts say that the relics and. Following a semesterlong reading and discussion of this book with my undergraduate and graduate students, i can confidently state that thomas barfields noteworthy afghanistan proves to. Kabul, afghanistan s capital and largest city, has a population of more than 1 million.
We cannot fully understand todays afghanistan without reading this insightful book. But in recent years the city was almost completely destroyed. Modern afghanistan became a pawn in struggles over political ideology and commercial influence. Barfield, an anthropologist and old afghanistan hand, has written a history of afghanistan that weaves in geography, economics, and culture think tribes, ruralurban dichotomies, value systems while maintaining a focus throughout on afghan rulers relations with their own people and the outside world. Dec 20, 2012 the book is the outcome of the adventure of thomas barfield in explaining what unites the diversified people of afghanistan as afghans despite the political, cultural and regional diversities that make a dragging line among them. The written recorded history of the land presently constituting afghanistan can be traced back to around 500 bce when the area was under the achaemenid empire, although evidence indicates that an advanced degree of urbanized culture has existed in. A cultural and political history is an invaluable book. Afghanistan history, map, flag, capital, population. A cultural and political history by thomas barfield. Afghanistan is a country that is rich in history and war. A cultural and political history, boston university anthropology professor thomas bar. A cultural and political history princeton studies in.
Barfield has captured political, social, and cultural insights of extraordinary importance to the. Library of congress federal research division country profile. Afghan culture 2 brief history afghanistan s crossroads position in central asia has subjected it to constant invasion and conquest throughout its long recorded history. This fascinating survey of afghanistan is an excellent book for those wanting to go beyond headlines. Though such a rich tapestry of history, culture, politics, and sociology is hardly done justice in the less than 400 pages of this book. The written recorded history of the land presently constituting afghanistan can be traced back to. Written by an expert, with the stylistic flair to be savored by the nonexpert, afghanistan also has judgments worthy of scholarly reflection. A cultural and political history by thomas barfield is a learned, detailed, well written book by an anthropologist, not a historian. Does the electronic version of the book completely replace the paper version. Four new chapters on the concept of sovereignty columbia studies in political thought political history the history of islamic. History, boston university anthropology professor thomas. Afghanistan s untold story is a defining work of great wisdom and depth in which the authors get to the bottom of the cauldron that is afghanistan. Thomas barfield introduces readers to the bewildering diversity of tribal and ethnic groups in afghanistan, explaining what unites them as afghans despite the regional, cultural, and political differences that divide them.
All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. They gave primacy to a strong military, centralized government control from kabul, and signaled the primacy of the pashtun as the countrys ruling group. Read the book on paper it is quite a powerful experience. A cultural and political history choice, january 2011. Here is american society, attacked under open skies in broad daylight by the most reactionary and vicious force in the contemporary world, a force which treats afghans and algerians and egyptians far worse than it has yet been able to treat us. Elliot is a good writer but not that much of a thinker. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. A new introduction brings the account fully up to date. The destabilization and military occupation of afghanistan by the united states over the past three decades has triggered the hasty production of a large corpus of writings about the political and sociocultural dynamics of the country by euroamerican academics, travellers, journalists, and aid and development workers. Best of all, if after reading an e book, you buy a paper version of afghanistan. Alexanders successors, the seleucids, continued to infuse the region with greek cultural influence. Thomas barfield introduces readers to the bewildering diversity of tribal and ethnic groups in afghanistan, explaining. The soviets took advantage of the political instability to invade in 1979. He showed how governing these peoples was relatively easy when power was.
Tajik the tijiks are considered afghanistans educated elite and tend to be wealthy. Afghanistan traces the historic struggles and the changing nature of political authority in this volatile region of the world, from the mughal empire in the sixteenth century to the taliban resurgence today. Afghanistan traces the historic struggles and the changing nature of po. He translated from ottoman turkish several western books, including some by jules verne and an account of the russojapanese war kabul, 36191718. Thomas barfield introduces readers to the bewildering diversity of tribal and ethnic groups in afghanistan, explaining what unites them as afghans despite the regional, cultural, and. Afghanistan has been the fulcrum of geopolitical balance of power during the cold war days. Best of all, if after reading an ebook, you buy a paper version of afghanistan. The history of afghanistan is a history of war and conflict even up to present day. A cultural and political history thomas barfield princeton university press 2012 pdf, epub. Nov 18, 2015 does the electronic version of the book completely replace the paper version. There are several books that are excellent in covering different aspects of afghanistan s history. Barfield does not give the united states a way out of afghanistan, but he does provide the context necessary for good policymaking.
F95a5 afghanistan a cultural and political history. Understanding war in afghanistan is an excellent book for journeyman students of afghanistan. William dalrymples top 10 books on afghanistan books. Anthropologist and afghanistan expert thomas barfield gives a panoramic view of afghanistan, from founding dynasties to the failed central asian states of today. Afghanistantraces the historic struggles and the changing nature of political authority in this volatile region of the world, from the mughal empire in the sixteenth century to the taliban resurgence today. A cultural and political history princeton studies in muslim politics series by thomas barfield. William dalrymples top 10 books on afghanistan from 16thcentury mughal rulers, to daring victorian spies and todays taliban, the travel writer and.
Anthropologists who have contributed to these writings have become instant. A cultural and political history political theology. Those government institutions established during the reign of. When it invaded afghanistan in 2001, the united states sought to do something previous foreign powers had never attempted. Thomas barfield introduced the audience to the bewildering diversity of tribal and ethnic groups in afghanistan, explaining what unites them as afghans despite the regional, cultural, and political differences that divide them. His views of afghanistan are very romantic and blackandwhite, and the book is a lot about him. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Afghanistan translates to land of the afghans or place of afghans in the nations official languages, dari and pashto. The culture of afghanistan has persisted for over three millennia, tracing record to at least the time of the achaemenid empire in 500 bce. A priority of the transitional government was to restore kabul to its previous. A cultural and political history by thomas barfield in chm, djvu, fb2 download ebook. All content included on our site, such as text, images, digital downloads and other, is the property of its content suppliers and protected by us and international laws.
Chinas afghanistan policy cap is marked by its insecurities of. In this book, journalist owen bennett jones looks at pakistans turbulent past, recounts its recent history, and assesses its future options. Reading this fascinating book is like registering for a survey course in the history of afghanistan. Afghanistan by thomas barfield, 9780691154411, download free ebooks, download free pdf epub ebook. Afghan music is different from western music in many ways, particularly in its scales, note intervals, pitch, and rhythm, but it is closer to western than to asian music. A cultural and political history, also has the ambitious goalof being a comprehensive but readable short history of afghanistan, with a heavy focus on the last nine. The destabilization and military occupation of afghanistan by the united states over the past three decades has triggered the hasty production of a large corpus of writings about the political and socio cultural dynamics of the country by euroamerican academics, travellers, journalists, and aid and development workers. Barfield does not give the united states a way out of afghanistan, but he does provide the. An historical, cultural, economic and political study is a book about the origins and history of the hazara people of afghanistan by sayed askar mousavi. Not only does it give them a summary of afghanistan s colorful geography and history, but it also presents an uptodate picture of where the war is heading and an informed discussion of the range of choice for afghanistan and its allies. Afghanistan afghanistan the arts and cultural institutions. Pushtun cultural centers tend to be in the eastern and southern portions of the country. The geopolitics of south asian political stability the.
The land that is now afghanistan has a long history of domination by foreign conquerors and strife among internally warring factions. Book one part i every state is a community of some kind, and every community is established with a view to some good. However, this is a doubleedged sword in that returning to read it is not necessarily a pleasure. A political and cultural history, despite or possibly because of two afghan wars, the. Profile of afghanistan, including facts about its geography, government, culture, people, and history. Posted in rafghanistan by u00000000000000000000 2 points and 1 comment. More than a decade on, the new regime in kabul remains plagued by illegitimacy and ineffectiveness. Afghanistan the arts and cultural institutions britannica. For the past 200 years, kabul has been the commercial, cultural, political, and educational center of the country.
Fulbright senior specialist, mongolia, august 2002. Nation building, a core goal of the isaf mission, has focused on overcoming these challenges through development of a viable state infrastructure. A cultural and political history afghanistan traces the historic struggles and the changing nature of political authority in this volatile region of the world, from. Thus we are privileged to see the landscape, the people, and rulers, the events through different eyes. In the last quarter of the 20th century, afghanistan suffered the ruinous effects of civil war greatly exacerbated by a military invasion and occupation by the soviet union 197989. Try searching on jstor for other items related to this book.
As to the left ill say briefly why this was the finish for me. This acclaimed book by thomas barfield is available at in several formats for your ereader. Afghanistan is completely landlockedthe nearest coast lies along the arabian sea, about 300 miles 480 km to the southand, because of both its isolation and its volatile political history, it remains one of the most poorly surveyed areas of the world. Can general musharraf, pakistans military ruler, control the forces that helped create the taliban in afghanistan. Although tajiks hold significant political influence and power, they are not the. Following a semesterlong reading and discussion of this book with my undergraduate and graduate students, i can confidently state that. A cultural and political history afghanistan traces the historic struggles and the changing. In the past this was done by supporting a client political elite. In music and dance, a revival of traditional folksinging has gone hand in hand with the imitation of modern western and indian music.
Afghanistan history and culture save afghanistan s culture can be traced as far back as 4000 bc with stunning prehistoric monuments standing to witness to its rich tribal history, many of which are still evident today outside of kabul. Thomas barfield introduces readers to the bewildering diversity of tribal and ethnic groups in afghanistan, explaining what unites them as afghans despite the regional, cultural, and political. The geopolitics of south asian political stability. Discover librarianselected research resources on afghan history from the questia online library, including fulltext online books, academic journals, magazines, newspapers and more. List of books and articles about afghan history online. Thomas barfield introduces readers to the bewildering diversity of tribal and ethnic groups in afghanistan, explaining what unites them as. His travels are exciting, but compared to the places in between, they fall flat. The book is the outcome of the adventure of thomas barfield in explaining what unites the diversified people of afghanistan as afghans despite the political, cultural and regional diversities that make a dragging line among them. A political and cultural history by thomas barfield. The arabs introduced islam in the 7th century and the turks briefly made afghanistan.
1188 1234 1395 1254 127 873 1295 1418 121 961 501 849 875 1294 917 61 910 1534 1673 1114 844 1240 123 1011 176 140 631 986 1485 642 870