Lonely Planet Afghanistan

At the time of writing Afghanistan is a ghastly mess. There is no point waffling on about 'oh yeah, but the people are friendly blah blah blah'. No, the place is a ghastly mess. BUT - and it's a big but hence the capital letters - there is also hope that things may get to a point where the place will be basically sane and able to be travelled except for the southern Pashtun areas who are likely to be utterly beholden to dark ages dogma and anti-western cod philosophy for many decades to come. And it's the sections on these areas of this, what is the most recent LP guide to Afghanistan at the time of writing, that really caught my eye. I devoured this thing in just a couple of evenings after work and amazingly enough it really whetted my appetite to one day in the distant future being able to see the glories of Herat. Of course I'd heard about them, but the text must be congratulated for really firing the enthusiasm of the reader. Not to mention some truly lovely photography that shows the everyday life of the country as well as some of the awe inspiring vistas this country would offer the traveller. Visions of oneself in some of these areas trekking a la Wilfred Thesiger or somesuch explorer/traveller of yore are hard to shake off when you see and read the descriptions of an utterly untamed nature. Overall the LP guide that sticks out in my mind the most of all the ones I've either borrowed or bought over the years and while the fluid nature of the sitation in the country probably means much of the information in it was out of date by the time the thing hit the book shops I found the history section balanced and fair minded and the feel of the place was conveyed well. Which is perhaps why this made such a positive impression on me.

In preparation for a military deployment to the country I had been doing extensive reading on all aspects of Afghanistan, which can get depressing. So I picked up the book in the hopes of getting a current, positive view of the country by someone with first-hand knowledge and a appreciation for the culture, and was not disappointed. If you are looking for the fastest way to get your head around its complicated history, the first 60 pages hits all the critical events neatly and is probably the best short history I've come across. As someone not planning on utilizing the actual travel information, the rest of the book serves as a good introduction to the various regions and major cities and gives you an appreciation for the geospacial relationships within and the layout of the country, its topography, and the general flow of its cities. The traveler specific information (transportation, lodging, food, costs, etc) seem very detailed and complete, with many options per city and reviews, addresses, phone etc for each. Seems like if would be very usable to a traveler. Throughout it ties in cultural as it applies to the modern westerner and by the end you'll have a pretty good frame of reference for further study. Certainly a must for anyone visiting as a tourist (but remember the security situation is quite different now, as the book also warns), and I think also an important read for the soldier that can give you the quick look at modern Afghanistan and also its history from a perspective we're generally not provided.

This is a great first edition guide to Afghanistan. For a book without much competition, LP has provided a lot more detail than they needed to to corner this market. Helpful sidebar commentaries on Hekmatyar and other political personalities in Afghanistan. The security situation has worsened since the book was written, so some of the land routes described here are no longer viable. Only complaint: the maps are full of careless errors, which are disappointing to discover stumbling around Kabul at dusk. Doesn't anyone proofread these things? Hopefully these will get ironed out in the next edition.