Modern Afghanistan
Title: Modern Afghanistan
Author: Amin Saikal
Publisher: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd
Publication Date: 2004
Purchase: Amazon
In reconstructing the tempestuous narrative of modern Afghanistan, Amin Saikal provides a sweeping new understanding of its troubled past. He identifies the country's inability to develop stable political structures as stemming from the inter-dynastic rivalry (exacerbated by polygamy) that scarred successive royal families from the end of the eighteenth century until the pro-Communist coup of April 1978. Outside interventions further weakened the country internally, preventing socio-economic development and leaving the country ripe for the politics of ideological extremism. "Modern Afghanistan: A History of Struggle and Survival" is the definitive study of Afghanistan and its troubles.