Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History (Princeton Studies in Muslim Politics, 45)

Afghanistan by Thomas Barfield is a comprehensive history of Afghanistan's political culture, tracing the country's struggles from the Mughal Empire to the Taliban resurgence today.

This book provides an in-depth look at the diverse tribal and ethnic groups that make up Afghanistan, and how they have been united despite their regional, cultural, and political differences.

Barfield explores how governing these groups has become increasingly difficult over time, from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries when Afghanistan's rulers mobilized rural militias to expel foreign occupiers, to the civil war that gave rise to clerical rule by the Taliban.

The book also examines why the American invasion in the wake of September 11 toppled the Taliban so quickly and how this easy victory lulled the United States into falsely believing that a viable state could be built just as easily.

Afghanistan is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the complex history of this volatile region and what the United States must do to avoid a similar fate.