Download Your Copy Afghanistan Articulated By Stephen Tanner Supplied As Paperback

really enjoyed this one, It was full of information and well documented, I did not feel blasted with obscure facts and felt the reading was smooth in my opinion, I learned a great deal and learned about Alexander the Great, the Huns, the Arabs, the Mongols, the British, and the Soviets in Afghanistan,

The Soviet deployment to Afghanistan was initially done to protect its investment since it had been contributing with infrastructure and economic aid since, The Soviets were invested in providing support to the 'Proletariat Brothers' to include roads, irrigation, economic, and other infrastructure endeavors, But quickly the unwanted outsiders were targeted and violence began to escalate, especially in the rural areas, The book goes into the hardcore details of the "migratory genocide", which is systematic depopulation of the countryside by means of destroying the rural infrastructure, pg.


These daily operations included carpet bombing valleys, napalming orchards, dropping mines in farmland to prevent cultivation, and helicopter attacks on sheep and goats, The civilian population was targeted and drove millions into refugee camps all over Afghanistan and neighboring countries,

Then the book gets into the civil war, rise of the Taliban,/, and then Operation Enduring Freedom,

For more indepth modern history reading, look to "Ghost Wars" by Stephen Coll or Ahmed Rashid "Jihad in Central Asia" and "Decent into Chaos".
For the Soviet War look at "The Bear Went Over The Mountain" and "The SovietAfghan War" by Lester Grau,

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the military history of Afghanistan, Thanks! After reading Kite Runner, Splendor of a Thousand Suns, and Three Cups of Tea, my interest in the history of the area was piqued, This excellent overview ofyears of invasion and resistance has proved to be a very readable discussion of military actions in Afghanistan from Alexander to the Taliban an interesting, detailed overview.
Good quote: The democratic genie needs to be let out of the bottle gradually, lest its first fumes overwhelm all those nearby, While some parts of this were a bit dry, the author did a pretty good job of keeping it interesting for the most part, It would be cool to see an updated version to include the U, S. exit from Afghanistan. كتاب تاريخي يتحدث عن تاريخ أفغانستان العسكري وعن طبيعة هذا البلد القاسية وماتحتويه من قبائل وأعراق مختلفه. . هذا البلد عانى عقود من الحروب والغزو الاجنبي وحدثت بة مجازر عظمية. . وعدم قدر المحتل سيطرة على البلد. . العجيب في هذا الشعب أنه عندما يتم غزوه من قوى اجنبيه يتحدوا لمقاتلته وعندما يتم طرد المحتل يعودوا لنزاعاتهم الداخليه. . وهذا ماحدث فعلا بعد خروج السوفيت ودخول المجاهدين في حرب أهلية. . أستفدت من الكتاب معلومات كثيرة مثيرة عن تاريخ هذا البلد الغامض لدي. . أزلت نجمة الكاتب صور الامريكيون باأنهم المنقذين للافغان وتغاضى عن كل جرائم الامريكيون وصورها بأنها مجرد أخطاء

كتاب يستحق القراءه لمن مهتم بتاريخ هذا البلد THE definitive guide to the military history of Afghanistan, . the blow by blow account of all the struggles which have taken place in this stony and sterile land, very well researched and something which I would recommend as I am historically speaking myself a Afghan and have lived there for most of my life.
My rule is to readchapters of a book before deciding if it is really worth my time, but I fell short of that threshold for this book.
I am uncertain as to what qualifies the author as a "military historian" beyond an armchair interest in military history, but it seems clear to me that he is not an expert in the subject, and I would bet that he has never visited Afghanistan.


The writing is, for me, too uncritical, giving too much weight to the spectacular / speculative details of individual battles, For example, in Tanner's telling, Darius III, the "Great King" of Persia, was the first Persian to retreat from battle when confronted by the "military genius" of Alexander the Great, despite assembling the largest army in the history of man.
Tanner concedes the original death tolls, listed in the tens of thousands among the Persians and a few hundred among the Greeks, are absurd, but is also adamant that we "must accept" the existence of Amazons a race of huge, warlike females due to some obscure findings of recent archeological digs.


I happily anticipate removing this book from my shelf and adding it to the Little Free Library down the street, As with lots of other people I was impelled by recent events in Afghanistan to want to learn more and so I looked for a couple of easy accessible histories, which would inform my understanding of how recent events came about.
This work by Tanner has proven to be be an excellent thought provoking and highly informative book, It reads well and provides a detailed and knowledgeable narrative of the history of the place we now call Afghanistan, A highly recommended work suitable for everyone who needs a little light shone on a stunning example what happens when nations seek to use their power to subjugate others for their own selfish/political or supposed moral reasons.
The USA's latest incursions in the region were impelled by the events of/, the consequences for the people of the region has been horrendous and only the latest in a continuum of invasions by foreign powers for a variety of reasons non of which were for the betterment of the people of the region.
Very happy I read this, من أفضل الكتب التي قرأتها في الآونة الأخيرة وكمحب للتاريخ خصوصا التاريخ المرتبط بالشرق الأوسط فإني أجد أن هذا الكتاب قد نجح في توثيق تاريخ أفغانستان العسكري البلد الذي لقب ب"مقبرة الامبراطوريات" يبدأ الكتاب بالحديث عن الاسكندر الاكبر ثم ينتقل الى قبائل الهون ثم اعرب فالمغول ثم البريطانيين وأخيرا السوفييت والأمريكيين.

يحتوي الكتاب على خرائط توضيحية لمناطق أفغانستان كما يحتوي على بعض الصور التوضيحية والتاريخية بشكل عام يعاب على الكتاب استرساله في بعض النقاط الهامشية لكن مجملا الكتاب يستحق القراءة خصوصا لمحبي التاريخ. غزير بحضارات ومعلومات طالما بحثت عنها. . This was an OK book, It is as the title describes a chronological look at the history of military conflict in Afghanistan,
While it was a very detailed account of such, I found the writing to be overly dry and arduous, I noticed my attention wandering many times while reading, "Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the War against the Taliban" is written in the style of a school textbook, instead of an engaging, interesting account with a cohesive theme.

stars. It was nice to have find a source of detailed history focusing on Afghanistan and have a picture painted of what shaped the environment, For me being able to have a clear context to understand past and present wars and conquests in this part of the world was a tremendous help.
It basically provided a road map of the current tribes existing nowadays, It helped me understand the people, various groups, and families who continue fighting bloodfeuds over grudges held from past generations, I expect to read this book again to refresh my memory on specific details, My reading experience was both interesting and informative, In the authors view, Afghanistan is not really a country, but a collection of tribes that really want to be independent and allowed to fight each other as they wish.
The borders were drawn by the British to keep Russia away from India and split the largest tribe in two different countries, The fighting strength is the people of the country not the people of the cities, A difficult place to get out of once you stick your head into the honey jar, I got what I needed from this book which was a summary of recorded military history, Theres not much on the culture of the tribes, And womens status and rights being what they are in this area of the world, I can count on one hand the number of women mentioned in passing.
While I wish I had more on these subjects, I did appreciate how the author provided context to events Afghanistan by orienting the reader to other moments in history.


Because I didnt need the name of every commander and tribal chief over multiple millennia, there were some passages I skipped, but I have just as many highlighted sections where I came away with an astounding sense of how many times people bungled warfare in this country.
Simply. Stunning. And I suppose now that the US has left Afghanistan to the Taliban the next chapter will be more history repeating itself, Not sure who came up with the title of this book, because if it was intended to describe the content of the book, then it should say 'tidbits of military history'.
The author covers three periods in any detail: Alexanders conquest and subsequent Successor period, lateth century, i, e. when British Empire played a high stakes game with Russia and finally the postWorld Warperiod, with focus on Soviet invasion and developments after Soviet withdrawal.
Naturally the last part covers the post/events, There are several issues with this book, but it also has some strong points, My main problem is the huge gap in history of the country that is simply missing, Also, sections about Alexander/Successor period and British envolvement in Afghanistan have been covered better and in greater detail by other writers, so I would almost be willing to consider them as fillers leading to the real strength of the book, which is analysis of modern history of Afghanistan.
This last part is where the strength of the book is hidden, as it gives clear, albeit far too short overview of events starting with Soviet invasion and ending on the unconclusive multinational military presence in today's Afghanistan.


Also, last couple

of pages, where Tanner presents his final analysis of the Afghan quandrum and a potential solution is very insightfull and rather suprising in its logic.
This couple of pages should become mandatory reading for any politician trying to solve the Taliban problem, .