Unholy Wars: Afghanistan, America and International Terrorism17 reviews John K. Cooley Pluto Press, 2002 Excellent reportage on the dark side of U.S policy + Like a textbook - comprehensive and factual + John K. Cooley is brilliant ! This book discloses the historical facts behind the rumors that the CIA did train people like Osama bin Laden as Muslim rebels to fight off the Soviets in Afghanistan in the late seventies and eighties. Well apparently it is all true. Given the author in depth research and documentation, this ...             The Gulf Crisis and the New World Order Hazrat Mirza Tahir Ahmad Islam International Publications, 1992 The Gulf Crisis and the New World Order Dicusses the possibility of peace in the context of the gulf crisis. The perspective is unique and free from personal or political biases.             The Fragmentation of Afghanistan: State Formation and Collapse in the International System, Second Edition5 reviews Barnett R. Rubin Yale University Press, 2002 The Fragmentation of Afghanistan: State Formation and Collapse in the International System + Fragmentation of Afganistan + very detailed and well researched, but a tough read + Solid academic political analysis + Solid academic political analysis             Holy War, Inc.: Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden75 reviews Peter Bergen Free Press, 2002 This Was Good....But Bin Laden's Mistress + A highly important guide to understanding one of history's most contrversial figures. + Excellent guide to comprehension of bin Laden + Useful study of the terrorist network             Afghan Guerilla Warfare: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet Afghan War1 review A. Jalali, Lester W. Grau Osprey Publishing, 2002 In-depth study of guerrilla tactics in the Soviet-Afghan war A fine piece of investigative research to obtain detailed accounts of guerrilla leaders and their tactics against the Soviet army. The tactics they learned and adapted to their situation are classic studies or how-to manuals on remote mountain guerrilla warfare. A must-have inside account for ...             Khyber, British India's north west frontier: The story of an imperial migraine2 reviews Charles Miller Macmillan, 1977 To be read by the pentagon + Terrific history! Read this book when it first came out and referred to it after 9/11. Answers the question on why Bin Laden is still at large. Should be required reading by every field officer in Afghanistan. Book is well written with political as well as tactical events that shaped the British trials for over 100 ...             The History of Saudi Arabia8 reviews Alexei Vassiliev NYU Press, 2000 The true story of Saudi Arabia + An excellent, comprehensive tome of history + Saudi Arabia as you never read it + an excellent overview             The Search for Peace in Afghanistan: From Buffer State to Failed State Barnett R. Rubin Yale University Press, 1995 The sequel to Barnett S. Rubin's The Fragmentation of Afghanistan , this volume relates the more recent history of a country that has been ruined in a proxy Cold War struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union, then summarily abandoned to a violent anarchy fueled by outside money and weapons. Rubin, who worked as a human rights monitor in the region, details how Afghanistan ...             Reaping the Whirlwind: The Taliban Movement in Afghanistan7 reviews Michael Griffin Pluto Press (UK), 2001 REVEALING + Some good stuff on Afghanistan + Insightful! + War children, it's just a shot away, it's just a shot away             The Lion's Grave: Dispatches from Afghanistan11 reviews Jon Lee Anderson Grove Press, 2003 The Lion's Grave, Dispactches from Afghanistan The Lion's Grave, Dispatches from Afghanistan by Jon Lee Anderson takes you inside the first few weeks of the war in Afghanistan as American forces moved across the country. Several reporters followed the soldiers into combat, expect Anderson covered the war from the perspective of the Afghani ...             The Soviet-Afghan War: How a Superpower Fought and Lost10 reviews University Press of Kansas, 2002 A sometimes boring book but VERY informative and useful + Lots more books will come from this one. + I dare you to find an adjective. + Talk about wooden prose!             A History of the Arab Peoples: Second Edition36 reviews Albert Hourani, Malise Ruthven Belknap Press, 2003 Exellent book + Interesting and concise + Great Introduction to the Arab world This book should be (and is in some Universities) mandatory for the study of the Middle East in general and Arab peoples specifically. Written by Albert Hourani one of the great scholars of the Middle East it is both concise and comprehensive covering centuries of history while presenting the ...             Reconstruction and Regional Diplomacy in the Persian Gulf Taylor & Francis, 2007 The Persian Gulf has been a recent focus of both academic and media attention. The Iran-Iraq War of 1980-1988 and the events surrounding the 1991 Gulf War have further enhanced the region's strategic importance. Reconstruction and Regional Diplomacy in the Persian Gulf provides a detailed analysis of the social, political, and economic patterns of interaction between Gulf states. ...             The Black Tulip: A Novel of War in Afghanistan27 reviews Milt Bearden Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2002 A Great Read about a Fascinating Subject + informative, interesting, a good read + Prescient Page Turner + a great thriller             Afghanistan: A Short History of Its People and Politics13 reviews Martin Ewans Harper Perennial, 2002 A must read on this subject + A concise history of a turbulent country + A pithy review + Complete History of Afghanistan             Afghanistan: A Military History From Alexander The Great To The Fall Of The Taliban13 reviews Stephen Tanner Da Capo Press, 2003 Overall Hostory of Afghanistan + A must read for anyone interested in operations in Afghanistan + Afghanistan + Very readable and informative + Afghanistan: A military history from Alexander the Great to the Fall of the Taliban             The Age of Sacred Terror: Radical Islam's War Against America38 reviews Daniel Benjamin, Steven Simon Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2003 Excellent Primer on GWOT + Amazing Breath; Amazing Detail; Limited Perspective + Destroying the Kingdom of Man to Establish the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. Though slightly dated-it was published in the interim between 9/11 and the Iraq War-this book by two U.S. government anti-terrorism officials is an excellent description of what is commonly referred to as the Global War on Terror. From the mechanics of the attacks on September 11, to the ideology ...             The New Central Asia: The Creation of Nations5 reviews Olivier Roy NYU Press, 2000 Caution to the reader + Sometimes tough going, but provides useful insights + Making Sense of Central Asia + Making Sense of Central Asia             Islam and Resistance in Afghanistan (Cambridge Middle East Library)1 review Olivier Roy Cambridge University Press, 1990 The best Roy is without a doubt the best on the subject. The in depth explanation of how Afghan society integrates and conflicts with Islam is infinitly helpful in understanding everything else you will ever read on Afghanistan             Before Taliban: Genealogies of the Afghan Jihad David B. Edwards University of California Press, 2002 In this powerful book, David B. Edwards traces the lives of three recent Afghan leaders in Afghanistan's history--Nur Muhammad Taraki, Samiullah Safi, and Qazi Amin Waqad--to explain how the promise of progress and prosperity that animated Afghanistan in the 1960s crumbled and became the present tragedy of discord, destruction, and despair. Before Taliban builds on the foundation that Edwards ...