Specific wars and military campaigns Books
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Green Beret in Vietnam: 1957–73
Book SynopsisVietnam was the US Special Forces most complex and controversial mission, one that began in 1957 and ended in 1973. Camp strike forces, mobile strike forces, mobile guerrilla forces, special reconnaissance projects, training missions and headquarters duty provided vastly differing experiences and circumstances for SF soldiers. Other fluctuating factors were the terrain, the weather and the shifting course of the war itself. Gordon Rottman examines the training, life, weapons and combat experiences of the Special Forces soldier in this challenging environment.Table of ContentsSpecial Forces, an Overview · Chronology · Special Forces in Vietnam · Special Forces Training · Special Forces Camp · Weapons · Color plate commentary · Index
£14.24
The Library of America Reporting Vietnam Vol. 2 (LOA #105): American
Book SynopsisFirst published for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the fall of Saigon, this unique two-volume anthology from the Library of America evokes a turbulent and controversial period in American history and journalism. Reporting Vietnam Part Two: American Journalism 1969–1975, along with its companion volume, captures the bravery, fear, cruelty, suffering, anger, and sorrow of a tragic conflict. This second volume traces events from the revelation of the My Lai massacre in 1969 through the fall of Saigon in 1975. Here are Peter Kann on the ambiguities of pacification; Gloria Emerson on the South Vietnamese debacle in Laos; Donald Kirk on declining American morale; Sydney Schanberg on the fall of Phnom Penh and the victory of the Khmer Rouge; Philip Caputo, Keyes Beech, Peter Arnett, and Malcolm Browne on the last days of South Vietnam.Writers who observed the turmoil in the United States are included as well: Francine du Plessis Gray on factions within the protest movement; Michael Kinsley recounting a confrontation between Henry Kissinger and his Harvard colleagues; James Michener meticulously reconstructing the Kent State shootings; Doris Kearns listening to Lyndon Johnson’s anguished recollections; Hunter S. Thompson watching veterans protest Richard Nixon’s renomination.Included in full is Dispatches, journalist Michael Herr’s acclaimed impressionistic memoir of his immersion in the exhilaration, dread, and sorrow of the Vietnam War.This volume contains a detailed chronology of the war, historical maps, biographical profiles of the journalists, explanatory notes, a glossary of military terms, an index, and a 32-page insert of photographs of the correspondents, many from private collections and never before seen.LIBRARY OF AMERICA is an independent nonprofit cultural organization founded in 1979 to preserve our nation’s literary heritage by publishing, and keeping permanently in print, America’s best and most significant writing. The Library of America series includes more than 300 volumes to date, authoritative editions that average 1,000 pages in length, feature cloth covers, sewn bindings, and ribbon markers, and are printed on premium acid-free paper that will last for centuries.Trade Review“I could quote these pieces forever. They are remarkable, and The Library of America has again produced a tremendous collection.” —American Journalism Review
£30.00
Grub Street Publishing Nimrod: Rise and Fall
Book SynopsisThe scrapping of the Nimrod programme has been one of the most controversial events in the military aviation world for many a year. For most of its operational life, from 1969 to date, its contribution to the defence of the realm and its role in offensive duties was, of necessity, often shrouded in secrecy. It was the ‘eye in the sky’ which was absolutely vital to a host of activities – from anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare, to support of land battles throughout the world, to the Falklands campaign, to combating drug-running, the Nimrod’s unsung role was paramount. And now the UK is bereft of such a multi-tasking reconnaissance aircraft. The full story of the Nimrod, and its significance, has now been told. Tony Blackman, who was there at the beginning, test-flew nearly every aircraft and was at Kinloss on the very day the project was cancelled, has written this timely book, covering every facet of its history, its weapons system developments and its tragic accidents. He writes in an approachable way, making technical subjects understandable but his conclusions will, inevitably, not be welcomed by everyone.
£19.28
Helion & Company Bush War Operator: Memoirs of the Rhodesian Light
Book Synopsis
£21.51
Helion & Company Wellington's Unsung Heroes: The Fifth Division in
Book Synopsis
£29.95
Savas Beatie The New Civil War Handbook: Facts and Photos from
Book SynopsisThe New Civil War Handbook: Facts and Photos from America’s Greatest Conflict is a complete up-to-date guide for American Civil War enthusiasts of all ages. Author Mark Hughes uses clear and concise writing, tables, charts, and more than 100 photographs to trace the history of the war from the beginning of the conflict through Reconstruction.Coverage includes battles and campaigns, the common soldier, technology, weapons, women and minorities at war, hospitals, prisons, generals, the naval war, artillery, and much more. In addition to these important areas, Hughes includes a fascinating section about the Civil War online, including popular blog sites and other Internet resources. Additional reference material in The New Civil War Handbook includes losses in battles, alternate names for battles, major causes of the deaths of Union soldiers (no data exists for Confederates), deaths in POW camps, and other rare information.Civil War buffs will find The New Civil War Handbook to be an invaluable quick reference guide, and one that makes an excellent addition for both the Civil War novice and the Civil War buff.About the Author: Mark Hughes is an electronics instructor widely recognized as the authority on Civil War cemeteries. He has written several books, including Bivouac of the Dead, The Unpublished Roll of Honor, and Confederate Cemeteries (2 vols.). An electronics instructor at Cleveland Community College, Mark, his wife Patty, and their daughter Anna Grace live on the family farm near Kings Mountain, NC.
£13.09
Savas Beatie The Maryland Campaign of September 1862: Volume 1, South Mountain
Book SynopsisWhen Robert E. Lee marched his Army of Northern Virginia into Maryland in early September 1862, Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan moved his reorganised and revitalised Army of the Potomac to meet him. The campaign included some of the bloodiest and influential combat of the entire Civil War. Combined with Southern failures in the Western Theatre, the fighting dashed the Confederacy’s best hope for independence, convinced President Abraham Lincoln to announce the Emancipation Proclamation, and left America with its bloodiest day in history.One of the campaign’s participants was Ezra A. Carman, the colonel of the 13th New Jersey Infantry. After the horrific fighting of September 17, 1862, he recorded in his diary that he was preparing “a good map of the Antietam battle and a full account of the action.” Unbeknownst to the young officer, the project would become the most significant work of his life. Appointed as the “Historical Expert” to the Antietam Battlefield Board in 1894, Carman and the other members solicited accounts from hundreds of veterans and scoured through thousands of letters and maps. Carman also wrote an 1,800-page manuscript on the campaign. Although it remained unpublished for more than a century, many historians of the war consider it to be the best overall treatment of the campaign ever written. Jammed with firsthand accounts, maps, photos, a biographical dictionary, and a database of veterans’ accounts of the fighting, this long-awaited study will be appreciated as battle history at its finest.About the AuthorDr. Thomas G. Clemens (ed.), recognized internationally as one of the foremost historians of the Maryland Campaign, has spent more than two decades studying Antietam editing and richly annotating Carman’s exhaustively written manuscript. The result is The Maryland Campaign.
£25.00
Savas Beatie A Guide to the Battles of the American Revolution
Book SynopsisThis is the first comprehensive account of every engagement of the Revolution, a war that began with a brief skirmish at Lexington Green on April 19, 1775, and concluded on the battlefield at the Siege of Yorktown in October 1781. In between were six long years of bitter fighting on land and at sea. The wide variety of combats blanketed the North American continent from Canada to the Southern colonies, from the winding coastal lowlands to the Appalachian Mountains, and from the North Atlantic to the Caribbean. Unlike existing accounts, A Guide to the Battles of the American Revolution presents each engagement in a unique way. Each battle entry offers a wide and rich—but consistent—template of information to make it easy for readers to find exactly what they are seeking. Every entry begins with introductory details including the date of the battle, its location, commanders, opposing forces, terrain, weather, and time of day. The detailed body of each entry offers both a Colonial and British perspective of the unfolding military situation, a detailed and unbiased account of what actually transpired, a discussion of numbers and losses, an assessment of the consequences of the battle, and suggestions for further reading. Many of the entries are supported and enriched by original maps and photos. Fresh, scholarly, informative, and entertaining, this book will be welcomed by historians and general enthusiasts everywhere. About the Authors Theodore P. Savas practised law for many years before moving into book publishing. J. David Dameron is retired from the U.S. Army, where he served with the 82nd Airborne Division and 7th Special Forces Group.
£999.99
Orange Frazer Press Blood, Tears, & Glory (Softcover)
Book Synopsis
£28.46
For Beginners Lincoln for Beginners
Book Synopsis
£11.39
Casemate Publishers Nam Sense: Surviving Vietnam with 101st Airborne
Book SynopsisNam Sense is the memoir of a combat squad leader in the 101st Airborne Division. Arthur Wiknik was drafted by the army in 1969 at the age of nineteen, promoted to sergeant ‘without ever setting foot in a combat zone’, and sent to Vietnam. He was flown north to Camp Evans, a mixed-unit outpost near Phong Dien, only a few miles from Laos. Wiknik was then thrown straight into the action: he was the first man in his unit to reach the top of Hamburger Hill during one of the last offensives launched by US forces, and later discovered a weapons cache that prevented a sneak attack on his advance fire support base. Between the sporadic episodes of combat he mingled with the locals and defrauded an unwitting US supplier to provide his platoon with a year of good food. This book offers a perfect blend of candour and humour – and it spares nothing and no one in its attempt to convey what really happened during this unpopular war. Nam Sense is not about heroism, mental breakdowns and haunting flashbacks: the GIs Wiknik lived and fought with during his year-long tour were there to do their duty, support their comrades and get home alive. ‘The soldiers I knew’, explains the author, ‘demonstrated courage, principle, kindness, and friendship – all the elements found in other wars Americans have proudly fought in.’ About the AuthorARTHUR WIKNIK was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1968, selected to be trained as an Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) and went to war in Vietnam.Trade ReviewThis memoir has it all. Its powerful prose sears into the reader the pathos of war-the loneliness, hopelessness, fear, anger, loathing of oneself and ones' enemy-while generating laughs, a better understanding of the Vietnam veteran, and a sense of pride in our armed forces. * AdvanceBookReviews.com *Nam Sense is written in an accessible and ironic style, whether describing whores or horrors, it provides an unflinching look at a year in the life of a Grunt in Vietnam. * Military History of the West *
£17.92
The University of Akron Press Leaving Home in Dark Blue: Chronicling Ohio's
Book Synopsis
£18.89
FreeLance Academy Press The Art of Defence on Foot with the Broad Sword
Book SynopsisOriginally published in 1804 and aimed at the volunteer regiments of the Napoleonic Era, when engagements with swords were still a reality of warfare, The Art of Defence was written for civilians wanting to learn to fence with the sabre, broad-sword or spadroon. The growing interest in Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) has led to a world-wide increase in clubs and societies, and this text is aimed at these new students. The content is presented in a highly-structured way and in easily accessible language. Although primarily aimed at the novice, the text contains a number of more advanced techniques, from which more experienced fencers can benefit. This newly transcribed edition puts the complete, original text into a modern typesetting to make it easily accessible during lessons, but is otherwise left unchanged. To ensure the transcription will remain as compatible with other sources that refer to specific parts of the text as the original edition, all content has remained on the same page. All the plates, including the foldouts, have been photographed and digitally enhanced in order to reproduce them in as much detail as possible. Trade Review Table of ContentsPart One: Practice at the Target Of Holding the Sword Position Longeing Medium Guard Inside Guard Outside Guard Introductory Remarks on the Six Cuts Direction of the Cuts Method of practicing the Six Cuts at the Target o Cut I o Cut II o Cut III o Cut IV o Cut V o Cut VI Combining the Six Cuts Part Two: Practice with the Antagonist General Observations Distance The Advance The Retreat Traversing Disengaging Forcing an Adversary’s Guard Timing The Slip Inside Guard o 2d position o 3d position Outside Guard Hanging Guard St George’s Guard Spadroon Guard Bearing Battering Feints Disarming Application of the Point Thrusts Parades Cuts differing from the general principles of the System Cut at the Advanced Leg Parade & Return for the above Remarks on the Spadroon Appendix Opposing the Small Sword § Spadroon § Musket & Bayonet Variations from general prinicples of the System when engaged with Sticks
£25.17
George F. Thompson Lost in Vietnam
Book SynopsisVietnam is an ancient and beautiful land, with a deep history of occupational conflict that remains an enigma in Americans’ collective memory. It is still easy to forget that Vietnam is a country and not a war, even as America’s role in Vietnam inflamed and divided the American citizenry in ways that are still evident today. It is as if Vietnam’s civil war resurrected our own. And if you are a Vietnam War veteran or a family member of a vet, it’s worse, because, even after a half-century, many of the wounds won’t heal. What do you do when you have given up on forgetting? Chuck Forsman is one of a sizable number of aging Vietnam vets who have found deep satisfaction in revisiting Vietnam, supporting charities, orphanages, and clinics, doing volunteer work and more—anything to redeem what the U.S. military did there. He is also a renowned painter and photographer who depicts places and environments in ways that become unforgettable visual experiences for the contemporary viewer. Lost in Vietnam chronicles a journey, not a country. They were taken on visits averaging two months each and two-year intervals over a decade. Forsman traveled largely by motorbike throughout the country—south, central, and north—sharing his experiences through amazing photographs of Vietnam’s lands and people. His visual journey of one such veteran’s twofold quest: the one for redemption and understanding, and the other to make art. The renowned Le Ly Hayslip introduces the book and sets the table for Forsman’s incredible sojourn.
£30.00
Boutique of Quality Books The Hitchhike
Book SynopsisMark Paul Smith's hitchhike from Indiana to India in 1972 changed him from being an Air Force Officer into a conscientious objector. He hitchhiked through the Iron Curtain and worked on a collective farm in Hungary only to find that communism wasn't our real enemy. He met people from North Vietnam who showed him the real enemy was the U.S. war machine. Being an American was popular in those days, but the people of the world showed Smith kindness and kept him alive when he ran out of money. The long road to decision showed him that people everywhere want peace, not war. His faith in the United States of America was restored when he sued the government and won his case in federal court.
£999.99
Casemate Academic Fighting for Time: Rhodesia'S Military and
Book Synopsis
£52.25
Rutgers University Press Intervention Narratives: Afghanistan, the United
Book SynopsisIntervention Narratives examines the contradictory cultural representations of the US intervention in Afghanistan that help to justify an imperial foreign policy. These narratives involve projecting Afghans as brave anti-communist warriors who suffered the consequences of American disengagement with the region following the end of the Cold War, as victimized women who can be empowered through enterprise, as innocent dogs who need to be saved by US soldiers, and as terrorists who deserve punishment for 9/11. Given that much of public political life now involves affect rather than knowledge, feelings rather than facts, familiar recurring tropes of heroism, terrorism, entrepreneurship, and canine love make the war easier to comprehend and elicit sympathy for US military forces. An indictment of US policy, Bose demonstrates that contemporary imperialism operates on an ideologically diverse cultural terrain to enlist support for the war across the political spectrum. Trade Review"At a time when US hegemony is being challenged and redefined, narratives about Afghanistan - combining the threats of terrorism with the attractions of the region's economic resources - are being used to underscore American exceptionalism and perceptions of national identity. Bose's astute book reveals the underbelly of these 'mock narratives' for what they are: stories that the US tells about itself, both internally and externally, to substitute affective relations for political analysis in the narrative that has become 'Afghanistan.'" -- Susan Jeffords * author of Hard Bodies *"Intervention Narratives is like a bright light switched on suddenly in the mind of those uneasy about temporizing in a world of perpetual war. Instead of probing stories about empire, Bose dismantles empire’s own – the narrative “soft weapons” concocted by strategists of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan. In this beautifully factual, honest, and theoretically astute book – roving from canine rescue tales to premature withdrawal fantasies – she upends the usual meaning of posthumanism, affect, and post-truth by inserting them into the dark arenas of contemporary geopolitics." -- Timothy Brennan * author of Borrowed Light *"Campaign for the American Reader: Pg. 99: Purnima Bose's "Intervention Narratives" https://americareads.blogspot.com/2020/01/pg-99-purnima-boses-intervention.html * Campaign for the American Reader *"The Page 99 Test: Purnima Bose's "Intervention Narratives" https://page99test.blogspot.com/2020/01/purnima-boses-intervention-narratives.html * The Page 99 Test *"Intervention Narratives provides theoretical underpinning to explicate the narratives Bose analyzes, and Bose also offers a comprehensive thesis about what makes them persuasive, compulsively repeated, and ultimately harmful." * Time Now *"Bose’s book marks one of the first that actually breaks down the assumptions of the abundance of war literature that has been written about Afghanistan in the wake of 9/11. In effect, Bose takes on the knowledge–industrial complex that exists around Afghanistan, showing us, sometimes line by line, where the discursive violence lies, and how it sets the stage for actual violence." -- Helena Zeweri * Interentions: International Journal of Postcolonial Studies *Table of ContentsContentsAcronyms ixIntroduction:Intervention Narratives and Geopolitical Fetishism1 The Premature-Withdrawal NarrativeHegemonic Masculinities and the Liberal Humanist Subject2 The Capitalist-Rescue NarrativeAfghan Women and Micro-Entrepreneurship3 The Canine-Rescue Narrativeand Post-Humanist Humanitarianism4 The Retributive-Justice NarrativeOsama bin Laden as SimulacraPostscript: Three Presidents, One PolicyAcknowledgmentsNotesIndex
£999.99
Brepols N.V. Poland and the Holy War: Evolution of the
Book Synopsis
£108.98
Editions Heimdal Rivoli: 1796-1797 Du Pont d'Arcole à La Bataille
Book SynopsisIn 1796, the Directoire decided to hit the Austro-Hungarian Empire hard. Two armies had failed in Germany whereas the little Army of Italy, under the command of Bonaparte, thrashed the Austrians in a vigorous, marvellous campaign. In less than twelve months it smashed four Austrian armies, captured a part of the Piedmont, founded two republics, conquered Northern Italy and on 7 October 1797, signed the Treaty of Campio-Formo with Austria. Napoleon Bonaparte had covered himself in glory. After the Battle of Arcola, the legend was born; after the Battle of Rivoli, the Hero of a whole country had arisen… This book reveals various aspects of the final months of the campaign. The initial chapters describe the battles and the manoeuvres, with the tactical import of the victories as well as the strategic value of Bonaparte’s vision. The second part deals with technical aspects and uniforms of the units on both sides. The third looks more closely at the “booty” picked up by the young general, and deals with the cultural, economic and political dimensions of Bonaparte’s first successful campaign. In his account, the author insists on the daily life of the va-nu-pieds (barefoot soldiers) in the Army of Italy and the important role they had in creating the myth. With this first book describing one of the future Emperor of France’s most incredible campaigns, Editions Heimdal paints the first strokes on the canvas of the Napoleonic legend to come. Language : French
£999.99
Editions Heimdal The Imperial Guard of the First Empire. Volume 3:
Book Synopsis“The Guard charges” Napoleon gave special attention to this splendid unit – the Imperial Guard – and it became a sort of little army within the “Grande Armée”. This study of its organisation is here at its most erudite, like the one on the uniforms and equipment. Discover the uniforms, the equipment, and the weapons used by all those “Grognards”, who were launched into a battle as a last resort, at the decisive moment. Explaining how the Guard was organised into Old, Middle and Young Guards, in this volume, the illustrator-researcher André Jouineau shows the colonel-generals, the grenadiers, the chasseurs à pied, fusiliers, velites, flanqueurs, wards, workmen, sappers, doctors, magistrates and foot gunners; in the second volume he shows the centaurs of the Guard’s cavalry. This small practical, clear, concise, logical and visual tool is a real vade mecum, intended for imperial history buffs as well as figurine makers. The third volume – a compilation of two dossiers published in the fifth and sixth issues of the magazine ”Soldat” – is the new, improved, entirely revised and re-drawn larger version (more than fifty per cent more characters) than the previous work published several years ago now by the authors. In this volume : the last mounted units of the Guard, the follow-up units, the Horse Artillery, the Artillery trains and teams, the Health Service, the Guard HQ Staff but also the Emperor’s Household, the Emperor and the first uniforms of the Royal Guard.
£33.75
Editions Heimdal Bonaparte Et La Campagne D'Egypte: 1798
Book SynopsisIt seemed that 1798 was a year like any other. In appearance only. Indeed, the year seemed to finish off the infernal ten-year period which started in 1789. France had quietened down and consolidated its borders. It was a bigger country which saw out the 18th Century, but a country in which the ashes from the fires lit earlier still glowed red, flaring up with the slightest breath of air… Starting in peace, 1798 ended with the clash of fighting. With this book by Lionel Marquis, a journalist and renowned historian, discover this turning point when the Egyptian Campaign under the young General Bonaparte took up centre stage.
£41.65
Editions Heimdal La Guerre De SéCession
Book SynopsisIf there’s one conflict that was remarkable from a lot of points of view, it was the American Civil War, better known in France as the War of Secession. In this war the armies of the South opposed those of the North – the Union – of the almost hundred-years old republic of the United States of (North) America; it remains in the annals as the last classic war – in certain aspects the heir to the Napoleonic wars – and the first real modern war of the 20th Century in which “state of the art” technologies were used for the first time on a massive and intensive scale. This bloody conflict was the result of a long chain of political, economic and ideological compromises between two civilisations which barely concealed the differences opposing them. The ferocious appetites of the North against the principles of independence of the Southern States could only lead to an explosion. Four years of relentless, bloody and total war during which Johnny Reb gave no quarter to his brother Billy Yank. Everything has been said and written about this war: the joie de vivre of the South, its elegance, its chivalrous spirit, its attachment to secular traditions including slavery, facing the North’s industrial war machine, its humanist values, its small-minded courage, but also its avidity and its implacable spirit of organisation. From Gone with the Wind to Birth of a Nation, all the clichés have been used. This book gives you as large a panorama as possible of the uniforms worn by the belligerents during this conflict. The most characteristic silhouettes and the principles of basic organisation, as circumstances dictated, are shown in the now celebrated form of Heimdal’s books.
£32.40
Editions Heimdal Le Dictionnaire De La Grande ArméE
Book SynopsisIt answers all your questions! The first edition of the Dictionnaire de la Grande Armée was published in 2002, on the eve of the great Napoleonic military bicentenary celebrations, which took place between 2004 and 2015. Since then, a lot of publications have been brought out; this edition takes this into account and brings the different sections up to date. The first aim of this dictionary is to answer amateurs’ questions both general and precise. This book is unique in that it has no equivalent nowadays; it’s a work tool and a reference book which makes often complex and wide-ranging scattered research easier; it won the Grand Prix Premier Empire from the Fondation Napoléon when it came out. This Dictionnaire de la Grande Armée is now an easy, condensed synthesis which should delight all Napoleon enthusiasts, researchers and students who are interested in things military. Wherever possible at the end of the articles, we have indicated the references as well as the bibliographical route to take in order to refine and complement the researches. New: in this edition we have 600 biographies of people who had something to do with this military period, anything of an anecdotal nature which has a link to army organisation and military memorialists; we have also added 127 biographies of people linked to Napoleonic military history from the 19th and 20th Centuries, amateurs who were collectors, writers, historians, painters, etc., like Detaille, Lalauze, Margerand, Martinien, Rousselot, Saski, Six, etc. This part is completely new. In this second edition, there are more articles – at least 2 600 – but they have been padded out and are more precise and in a lot of cases quite new. The book finishes with a long bibliography. With all these articles, we hope you will save time in your future research and that you will discover a lot of new information, not to mention the pleasure of reading more about the history of this military epic. This dictionary is a tool which you will use often and is a must for your bookcase: that’s what it’s for!
£93.75
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Die Grosse Unmoglichkeit: Karl Barths Abweisung
Book Synopsis
£65.99
Bauernfeind Press The Civil War: The 3D Experience
Book SynopsisExperience the Civil War on a breathtaking three-dimensional journey! By viewing spectacular historical photos with 3D glasses,you will get the impression of being there―on the battlefield at Gettysburg, at a field hospital, aboard the famed ironclad USS Monitor, and in ruins of once proud cities. You will be able to go back in time―in 3D! Along with a preface by National Park Service chief historian Dr. Robert Sutton, and an informative timeline, the reader will be able to track the war‘s significant battles, events, and even come face to face with President Lincoln. Civil War photographers were already able to capture stereo images in order to create the illusion of three-dimensional depth. A carefully chosen collection of these amazing 150-year old photographs, painstakingly restored and converted into 3D anaglyphs, helps the reader to visually experience one of America‘s most defining moments―the Civil War. This unique volume is a must-have addition to any military history library! 3D glasses included.
£14.50
Andrea Press US Elite Forces: Uniforms, Equipment & Personal
Book Synopsis
£38.00
NIAS Press Afghanistan Beyond the Fog of War: Persistent
Book SynopsisThis is the first book to scrutinize the root causes of problems today with Afghan reconstruction. It begins in 1880 with the coming to power of Emir Abdur Rahman and departure of an occupying British army. On the northern border, Russian forces were also poised. Determined to preserve Afghan independence, Abdur Rahman devised a nation-building project grounded on centralized, autocratic rule and based on security, modernization and economic reform. Though continued by his successors, this project ultimately failed. A key reason for this was that, even as Abdur Rahman implemented policies that might be understood as `Western’ and `rational’, the great powers of the day took their cue from traditional institutional relationships in Afghanistan; local patronage relations were extended to the international level. In the process, Afghanistan became a rentier state, Abdur Rahman’s model abandoned in favor of foreign subsidies increasingly diverted from security and economic development. Successive foreign powers, especially the Soviet Union and United States, have upheld this centralized, rentier model of governance and development despite it consistently failing over the years. This work explores dynamics seldom covered in other studies of Afghanistan, including conflict between state-imposed pashtunization and multiple local/ethnic identities, likewise contradictions between the clericalism and secularism deployed in the nation-building process. It explores the largely overlooked ebb and flow of institutional development in Afghanistan, at all levels, in the context of international interest in the country, with special attention to Soviet and US/Coalition strategies and their effects. It also focuses on the power of patronage relations in establishing and retaining control in Afghanistan, and how the extension of such relations to the international level transformed Afghanistan into a rentier state that struggles to unite its people. Described by one Afghanistan expert as an excellent piece of work, very well documented with close attention to detail, this study offers sober analysis and critical insights. It will interest scholars and students of Afghan affairs plus policy-makers, diplomats, soldiers, international organizations and NGOs, businesses, journalists and many others engaged with Afghanistan and issues of political, military and economic power, democratization and civil–military relations in the region.
£999.99
