In 2001, when it became apparent that my country was going to invade Afghanistan, a country my knowledge of which was limited to the fact that I knew how to spell it, some people took to the streets. I took to the books. Here's a list:
This set of CD's can be every bit as frustrating to use as some of the critics say, but for me worth it for articles like Maynard Owen Williams' 1931 piece on the Citroen Trans-Asiatic Expedition.
Later there were Khaled Hosseini's and , both of which will make you fall in love and break your heart at the same time.
Perhaps the most insightful of them all is Rory Stewart 's because it takes you into the hills, from one isolated village to another, in a journey guaranteed to disabuse you of any romantic ideas you might have about life in the medieval.
Lastly, I include Steven Pressfield's . This one has nothing to do with catching Bin Laden. George W. Bush is not involved. This one is the Afghan Campaign of Alexander the Great over 2,000 years ago. Pressfield's research is impressive, his story is believable, and he makes two very pointed observations. 1. Soldiers and war are who and what they have always been. 2. Religion does not impose cultural norms. It codifies them.