Thomas Barfield is professor of anthropology at Boston University. His books include The Perilous Frontier: Nomadic Empires and China, 221 BC to AD 1757; The Central Asian Arabs of Afghanistan; and Afghanistan: An Atlas of Indigenous Domestic Architecture.
"Impressive."---Christopher de Bellaigue, New York Review of
Books
"This book is an authoritative and well-written summary of what we
might call the majority view. There is a streak in this book,
however, of more radical thinking. . . . It leads him near the end
of the book to some startling predictions for Afghanistan's
possible futures."---Gerard Russell, Foreign Policy
"Thomas Barfield's new book offers a remedy for Americans'
pervasive ignorance of Afghanistan. . . . Afghanistan: A Cultural
and Political History is an invaluable book. Mr. Barfield does not
give the United States a way out of Afghanistan, but he does
provide the context necessary for good policymaking."---Doug
Bandow, Washington Times
"A brilliant book to educate all of us about a country we should
know and appreciate. . . . Thomas Barfield's book on Afghanistan is
likely to become the first source that serious students turn to as
a guide to this complicated country. His comprehensive portrait of
Afghanistan is a stunning achievement."---Joseph Richard Preville,
Saudi Gazette
"Barfield, an anthropologist and old Afghanistan hand, has written
a history of Afghanistan that weaves in geography, economics, and
culture (think tribes, rural-urban dichotomies, value systems)
while maintaining a focus throughout on Afghan rulers' relations
with their own people and the outside world. . . . [The book] is
lightened by many breaks in the narrative to address broad themes
or make intriguing comparisons, such as likening patrimonial
Afghanistan to medieval Europe."
*Foreign Affairs*
"In this riveting study, Barfield does a splendid job of informing
us why Afghanistan is the way it has always been."
*Daily Star*
"Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History by Thomas Barfield
is a primer for anyone seeking to understand the region, its
cultural and political underpinnings."---Raghu Mohan,
Businessworld
"Barfield shows how Afghan notions of political legitimacy and
social organization are eerily timeless. . . . This book may change
the way you think about Afghanistan."---Brian Kappler, Montreal
Gazette
"Despite a plethora of books about Afghanistan in the last few
years, a good book on the country has not been published since
Louis Dupress's 1973 Afghanistan. Maybe the long wait is over.
Barfield's new book . . . comes close to matching Dupree's sweeping
sense of Afghanistan's complicated history and culture. An
anthropologist, as was Dupree, who personally visited most areas of
Afghanistan, Barfield is able to put the bewildering complexity of
tribes, ethnic groups, religious sects, warlords, and political
feuds that is Afghanistan into a coherent whole that is both
readable and informative."
*Choice*
"Thomas Barfield . . . has provided a rich discussion of the
anthropological and historical context for developing such a
formula, which is a critical missing piece in the Obama
Administration's policy in Afghanistan. . . . Barfield has given us
a valuable effort by a Westerner to decode a very foreign
society—never an easy task. As a prism through which to understand
the current conflict in Afghanistan, this book reminds us that war
is about politics and that politics is about who rules and how rule
is legitimated."---Marin Strmecki, American Interest
"[Barfield's] deep knowledge brings clarity to a frightfully
complicated region that has been and will continue to be of
extraordinary importance to policy debates. Scholarly experts in
search of an exhaustive reference to the region and those seeking
an introduction to the ins and outs of Afghan history will find
this book of interest."---Malou Innocent, Cato Journal
"Impressive. . . . Barfield traces much of what Afghanistan is
about to its geography and to developments from thousands of years
ago, but he also asserts that the decade of Russian occupation
changed Afghanistan permanently."---Harry Eagar, Maui News
"Anyone who wishes to comprehend the intricacies of this complex
and mysterious country would be wise to consult this exceedingly
valuable book."---Raphael Israeli, Israel Journal of Foreign
Affairs
"Overall, Barfield is successful in his attempts to render the
history of Afghanistan legible to the trained or casual reader. His
clear and approachable writing style, use of narrative, metaphor
and personal stories to illustrate his arguments, thoroughness and
quickness of pace, and his clear personal joy, investment and
fascination with the country make this a highly readable—and
more—digestible, historical account. . . . It is, in the end, a
fascinating read and a tremendous resource."---Rebecca Gang, Jura
Gentium
"Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History makes a serious
attempt to survey and analyze the changing political, cultural, and
social landscapes of the country from the ancient time to the
present. It provides meaningful and objective insights into
governance, state legitimacy, social and economic development, and
foreign interventions, and Afghan responses to them, with an
admirable degree of thoughtfulness and fluency."---Amin Saikal,
Marine Corps University Journal
"Barfield has written a magnificent, learned, provoking book. He
knows Afghanistan better than almost anyone writing on the topic
today. He matches that knowledge with keen insight into how human
societies grow and change. Barfield helps us think well about a
complex and distant land, which is no small achievement."---Paul D.
Miller, Books and Culture
"Barfield offers a critique of U.S. and Western strategy in
Afghanistan that will likely generate controversy, but strategists,
planners, and those on missions in Afghanistan ignore them at their
peril. Highly recommended."---Prisco R. Hernández, Military
Review
"In his admirable volume on Afghanistan, Thomas Barfield has
written a real tour de force. . . . No one should venture today
into Afghanistan, in whatever capacity, without first reading this
guide for the perplexed."---Raphael Israeli, European Legacy
"Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History is essential reading
for anyone who wants to understand either the history of
Afghanistan or what is happening there now."---Danny Yee, Danny
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