Books

Afghanistan: From Holy War to Civil War

Afghanistan: From Holy War to Civil War assesses the impact of the Afghan mujahidin movement as a case study of the success and limits of the Islamic political framework. The Afghan mujahidin movement is portrayed in all its specificity and in the broader context of its links to world Islamic fundamentalism.

Olivier Roy combines intimate knowledge gained from extensive field experience in the country with an analysis of the international political context of the mujahidin movement and its ideology. This is a brilliant work, with a sobering conclusion: Although the mujahidin succeeded in forcing the Soviet Army out of their country, they have not managed to establish a "new society." Instead, "traditional Afghan society has returned with its ethnic and tribal divisions, but also with its concept of power centered around clientele and personal alliances." Afghanistan is still at war--with itself. A minefield for international ideological movements, the country is engulfed in an internal game of power and manages to elude any international alignment based on ideology alone.

Other Books

A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007)
An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan (2001)
Afghan Buzkashi: Power Games and Gamesmen (2000)
Afghanistan: A Companion and Guide (2005)
Afghanistan: A Modern History (2005)
Afghanistan Aid, Armies & Empires (2009)
Afghanistan: From Holy War to Civil War (1995)
Afghanistan: Hidden Treasures from the National Museum, Kabul (2008)
Afghanistan: Mullah, Marx and Mujahid (2000)
Decoding the New Taliban: Insights from the Afghan Field (2009)
Earth and Ashes (2003)
Empires of Mud: Wars and Warlords in Afghanistan (2009)
Encyclopaedia of Afghanistan (2002)
Fragmentation of Afghanistan (2002)
Fundamentalism Reborn? Afghanistan and the Taliban (1998)
Koran, Kalashnikov and Laptop: The Neo-Taliban Insurgency in Afghanistan 2002-2007 (2007)
Meena: Heroine of Afghanistan (2004)
Modern Afghanistan (2004)
Monuments of Afghanistan (2008)
Organisations at War in Afghanistan and Beyond (2010)
Revolution Unending: Afghanistan, 1979 to the Present (2005)
The Afghanistan Wars (2009)
The Bookseller of Kabul (2004)
The Kite Runner (2003)
The Patience Stone (2010)
The Places in Between (2004)
The Road to Oxiana (1937)
The Sewing Circles of Herat: A Personal Voyage Through Afghanistan (2002)
The Swallows of Kabul (2005)
West of Kabul, East of New York: An Afghan American Story (2002)