City Travel Guides > Books > Afghanistan

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.The Places in Between
City Travel Guides > Books > Afghanistan
by: Rory Stewart

April 01, 2005
I enjoyed the book, for Stewart's eye to detail and his ability to convey so well the challenges facing the people of Afghanistan. As someone who has worked occasionally in Afghanistan (and with much less insight than Stewart), I felt that he really captured the realities of Afghanistan in 2002 and it made me wonder how much the same region has changed today, if at all. Stewart has an impressive knowledge of Islamic history and culture and uses it well to provide understanding of the people and the book is worth reading just for that.

Other reviewers have commented on his prose, and it has a simpleness to it, but lacks real depth, it has a repetitive quality, not unlike the steps he took on his journey. The missing link is his reason ... Read More:
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.A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush (Picador Books)
City Travel Guides > Books > Afghanistan
by: Eric Newby

December 04, 1981
From the pathetically inadequate preparations to the cooking of Eric Newby`s watch to the meeting with Thesiger...One absurd incident follows another as the two brave and foolish climbers fail to achieve their declared aim. It is such a funny book, every page is a joy. It is the kind of book you hope will never end. Sadly it does. Nothing to do but read it again...but, alas, I lent my copy to someone, and then it went out of print.
Luckily I managed to find a replacement in a second hand book shop.
So glad its in print again,now I can lend my copy without risk of being unable to replace it if it strays..
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.The Sewing Circles of Herat: My Afghan Years
City Travel Guides > Books > Afghanistan
by: Christina Lamb

May 24, 2004
In these memoirs the author writes about her experiences in Afghanistan, a country with which she has come to care deeply about and to explore intimately.
She details her experiences with people she has interviewed and come to know in Afghanistan and what she has come to witness in her years there.
Through the book she shapes a history of Afghnanistan, a rich land of many nations which has been invaded by many from the armies of Alexander the Great, the Persians and Mongols, the British and Russians/Soviets and most recently the Arab and Pakistani Islamists.
We learn that most of the Taliban were not Afghans at all but Arabs and Pakistani Islamo-Nazis barging into a county were they found it easy to wage their nihilist jihad and foist ... Read More:
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.The Way of the World
City Travel Guides > Books > Afghanistan
by: Nicolas Bouvier

May 01, 2007
I'm in Mongolia having just succesfully driven from London, through Kazahkstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgistan and Russia on our way and can safley Bouvier describes this style of travel to a tee, still poigniant in its representation of the life one encouters 50 years down the line. Aside from the incredible places and people that the two discover along the way, the real joy is in Bouvier's writting, his ability to see the world in exsquisitely poetic and lucid detail is astonashing, I found myslef grinning with pleasure at descriptions of a beggers breath or the faces of gypsies (ah there crap examples), but there is no point me trying to explain, I haven't the talent his weilds, so, as with everyhting, its better off experiencing it for yourself. Read on.

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.An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan
City Travel Guides > Books > Afghanistan
by: Jason Elliot

September 08, 2000
I feel for Jason Elliot. He has not the makings in him of a 'jobbing' travel writer; no Colin Thubron, nor William Dalrymple he. I came to An Unexpected Light by way of his second book, Mirrors of the Unseen, and while a fascinating, idiosyncratic and surprising take on that much-maligned country, one senses within minutes of opening his debut that Afghanistan is a mistress of whom he will never be free. He has poured all that he feels for her and for life - love, warmth, pain - into one book, and with the simple, devastating final paragraph I for one felt sure that he had shot his bolt. Here is an achievement that can never be paralleled.

It was at the age of nineteen, with extraordinary chutzpah - and not a little naivety - that Elliot first crossed ... Read More:
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.Afghanistan (Lonely Planet Country Guide)
City Travel Guides > Books > Afghanistan
by: Paul Clammer, et al

August 01, 2007
I feel for Jason Elliot. He has not the makings in him of a 'jobbing' travel writer; no Colin Thubron, nor William Dalrymple he. I came to An Unexpected Light by way of his second book, Mirrors of the Unseen, and while a fascinating, idiosyncratic and surprising take on that much-maligned country, one senses within minutes of opening his debut that Afghanistan is a mistress of whom he will never be free. He has poured all that he feels for her and for life - love, warmth, pain - into one book, and with the simple, devastating final paragraph I for one felt sure that he had shot his bolt. Here is an achievement that can never be paralleled.

It was at the age of nineteen, with extraordinary chutzpah - and not a little naivety - that Elliot first crossed ... Read More:
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.Danziger's Travels: Beyond Forbidden Frontiers (Paladin Books)
City Travel Guides > Books > Afghanistan
by: Nick Danziger

February 22, 1993
I picked this up in Oxfam after seeing an ad for it in the back of Wild Swans, and am really glad I did, because I think it's brilliant.

Fair enough, Nick Danziger is no Eric Newby, but he's a decent writer and I quite like his little moments of self-reflection- one has to remember he was 26/27 at the time of writing, and, yes, you can tell he's young (and, at times, hormonally challenged ;) ) from his writing style. That in no way spoils the book for me, though. I found it utterly fascinating and I loved his little drawings and detailed descriptions. In fact I completely disagree with whoever said the descriptive writing was tedious- surely a book of this nature would be nothing without description?!

Outwitting officials and crossing borders illegally ... Read More:
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.Afghanistan: A Darkness Visible
City Travel Guides > Books > Afghanistan
by: Seamus Murphy

October 11, 2007
I picked this up in Oxfam after seeing an ad for it in the back of Wild Swans, and am really glad I did, because I think it's brilliant.

Fair enough, Nick Danziger is no Eric Newby, but he's a decent writer and I quite like his little moments of self-reflection- one has to remember he was 26/27 at the time of writing, and, yes, you can tell he's young (and, at times, hormonally challenged ;) ) from his writing style. That in no way spoils the book for me, though. I found it utterly fascinating and I loved his little drawings and detailed descriptions. In fact I completely disagree with whoever said the descriptive writing was tedious- surely a book of this nature would be nothing without description?!

Outwitting officials and crossing borders illegally ... Read More:
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.A Hedonist's Guide to Almaty and Astana (A Hedonist's Guide to...)
City Travel Guides > Books > Afghanistan
by: Lucy Kelaart, Summer Coish

November 15, 2007
I picked this up in Oxfam after seeing an ad for it in the back of Wild Swans, and am really glad I did, because I think it's brilliant.

Fair enough, Nick Danziger is no Eric Newby, but he's a decent writer and I quite like his little moments of self-reflection- one has to remember he was 26/27 at the time of writing, and, yes, you can tell he's young (and, at times, hormonally challenged ;) ) from his writing style. That in no way spoils the book for me, though. I found it utterly fascinating and I loved his little drawings and detailed descriptions. In fact I completely disagree with whoever said the descriptive writing was tedious- surely a book of this nature would be nothing without description?!

Outwitting officials and crossing borders illegally ... Read More:
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.For a Pagan Song: In the Footsteps of the Man Who Would Be King - Travels in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan
City Travel Guides > Books > Afghanistan
by: Jonny Bealby

July 01, 1999
Alarmingly naive at first, but growing more wily by the day, Jonny Bealby nevertheless demonstrates grit to match that of his fictional heroes on this sometimes pretty hairy pilgrimage to the pagan hills of Afghanistan. Since the events of September 11th, the fact that this eminently well written account offers considerable insights into the sociology of the area is an added bonus, but what really makes this an unforgettable read is the poignant personal backdrop, for details of which you will also need to read his first book, "Running With The Moon". If there is a single drop of traveller's blood in your veins, or if you have ever really been in love, you will find delight and heartfelt grief in the pages of this book. Don't be alarmed however, by the mention of grief. To temper ... Read More:
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