Before Taliban: Genealogies of the Afghan Jihad Book

Powerful and heartbreaking anthropological/historical account of Afghanistan in the years right before the Soviet occupation and the rise of the Taliban. Through the biographies of three men representing three different phases---the communist takeover, the local/tribal resistance, and the jihadist resistance, we are taken on a journey that explores te themes of religion, nation, and tribe. Edwards humanizes the stories of these moments--their motivations, their rise, their struggles, and eventually their downfall. His discussion of the in-fighting between the different Islamist groups based out of Pakistan is fascinating and extremely relevant.