pickA brilliantly written and comprehensive account of America‘s wars in Pakistan and Afghanistan (as it says in the title). I bought this when America pulled out of Afghanistan & it‘s taken me this long to pick it up - part of reading my TBR this year. It‘s a great insight into the different arms of govt, their struggles with other cultures, arrogance at times, the complex relationship with Pakistan as a nuclear state & the need for a clear purpose.
pickDifficult subject but really well done.
pickA non-fiction account of the everyday lives of three people living in Afghanistan after 9/11. This book changed what I thought I knew. It was a hard read, but a really good one. #FoodAndLit
so-soGood memoir recalling the counterinsurgency the United States learned the hard way in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Interesting & informative. Bowden always good.
pickGopal follows 3 Afghans,a Taliban commander, a US backed warlord ,& an educated village housewife to demonstrate how difficult it is/was to get a positive result in Afghanistan.Detailed & well written,reality is most just want to raise their family in peace.We have warlords accusing enemies of being terrorists so the US will lock them up,the provisional police extorting money from anyone who has a shop stall.Shows how the Taliban would rise again
pan#2021Book73
This story had a lot of potential, because the actual events make for a very compelling narrative. The way it's written, however, leaves a lot to be desired. The flow of the story is choppy and kind of jumps from point to point. Certain sections just get started, and then the author switches to a completely different topic and never comes back to conclude the previous section.
panThis is the first book in a series which centres around a tech guy in MI6, Marc Dane.
I didnt bond with the main character Marc and thats probably because the book is plot focused whereas I prefer getting to know my characters which I didnt get in these pages. Its all bang bang die bang bang die and repeat.
Not for me sadly.
pickDirector S provides a comprehensive look at the war in Afghanistan from 2001 through the late 2000s, revealing a world of intrigues, frustrations, personalities, and confusion surrounding this long war that never had the visibility of the Iraq war. You will understand a great deal more about the war, the US military and intelligence establishment, and South Asia after Directorate S.
pickSuperb! Narrative and investigative non-fiction of the very highest order. No Good Men Among the Living by Anand Gopal is wholly absorbing. Mr. Gopal's storytelling is imbued with a sense of understanding and moral seriousness of the broad landscape of Afghanistan's war through the lives of ordinary people all trying to survive. His close observations and delicate renderings of the war on terror is sad but true that, ultimately, the war 👇
