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Ten years ago, Christina Lamb reported on the war the Afghan people were fighting against the Soviet Union. Now, back in Afghanistan, she has written an extraordinary memoir of her love affair with the country and its people. Long haunted by her experiences in Afghanistan, Lamb returned there after last year's attack on the World Trade Centre to find out what had become of the people and places that had marked her life as a young graduate.This time seeing the land through the eyes of a mother and experienced foreign correspondent, Lamb's journey brings her in touch with the people no one else is writing about: the abandoned victims of almost a quarter century of war. 'Of all books about Afghanistan, Christina Lamb's is the most revealing and rewarding...a personal, perceptive and moving account of bravery in the face of staggering difficulties.' Anthony Sattin, Sunday Times 'As an account of how Afghanistan got into its present state, and of the making of the grotesque regime of the Taliban, this book could not possibly be bettered. Brilliant.' Matthew Leeming, Spectator 'Lamb's book combines a love of Afghanistan with a fearless search for the human stories behind the past twenty-three years of war...Her book is not only a necessary education for the Western reader in the political warring that generated the torture, murder and poverty, but also a stirring lament for the country of ruins that was once better known for its poetry and mosques.' James Hopkin, The Times… (more)
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If I've taken anything from this story it's that we have to stand up for what we believe in because we are sometimes the only ones who will. Without individual resistance and occasional shining of a light on what we find imcomfortable we may also find ourselves living in a world we hardly recognise, and all "for our own good".
Lamb puts a very human face on the country and introduces us to flesh-and-blood people from all walks of life, including mujaheddin, Taliban, government officials, teachers, refugees, museum curators, ordinary families, street people, the old, the young, and more. Afghanistan is a diverse country with an array of ethnic groups, religious sects, and attitudes, and Lamb's writing conveys that clearly. The book also contains a generous serving of the history of the country, which helps to illuminate current situations and events and put them into context.
The book was issued in 2002. It would be interesting to see a follow-up and have Lamb's insights into the current situation.
The book would likely be appreciated by those who have an interest in Afghanistan; by Americans who would like to learn more about a country that looms large in our foreign/military policy, and want to know some of the context behind the current events that fill our newspapers; or by anyone who simply enjoys reading a vivid travel narrative.