The Afghans

As an exploration of the social fabric of Afghan life, this book takes some beating. It’s also a deft history of the country since the 1960s, charting its journey from hippy hang-out to Soviet satellite state, jihadist battleground, and finally, failed nation-building project * Daily Telegraph *A heartbreaking account * Observer *A valuable addition to the canon of literature on Afghanistan … [Seierstad] manages to achieve a rare intimacy * New York Times *Ambitious…absorbing…Burrowing into both Afghan family life and the country’s convoluted politics, the book follows three people over several decades, culminating in the dramatic first year of the Taliban restoration…Seierstad’s short, punchy sentences, ably translated by Seán Kinsella, draw readers into the narrative * Boston Globe *Åsne Seierstad is one of the greatest, most courageous journalists of our time. While others were desperately fleeing Afghanistan, Seierstad traveled there alone to see the impact of the Taliban victory. This is an important, heartbreaking book about the limits of military power, religious fundamentalism, America’s broken promises, and the profound betrayal of Afghan women * Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation *The Afghans is an astonishing feat of writing and reporting and one of the finest books written on Afghanistan in a generation. I could not put this book down. On each page, as she follows these three lives with empathy and care, Åsne Seierstad is working at the very pinnacle of her prodigious powers. A clarion demanding we do not look away – Eliza Griswold, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of AMITY AND PROSPERITYIndelible portraits of people struggling to survive in a war-torn land * Kirkus, starred review *The Afghans is not simply an addictively engrossing read, but is also a work of real importance as we come to terms with Afghanistan’s recent past and the return of the Taliban. This is a deeply human piece of writing which approaches the war through the eyes of the Afghans, men and women, who lived it, who made impossible choices at difficult moments, and who continue to live with the consequences. Harrowing, uplifting, fascinating, challenging and profound, no other recent book on the subject comes close * CPW Gammell, author of The Pearl of Khorasan: A History of Herat *A gripping, richly textured account of Afghanistan’s ordeal that humanizes all sides * Publishers Weekly *Seierstad chronicles years of war and the rise and resurgence of the Taliban through the intimate, affecting portraits of three lives lived in history’s shadow * Booklist *Seierstad is masterful … her book is world class * Aftonbladet *Gripping … Seierstad succeeds in transforming the demonised stereotype - a Taliban terrorist - into a living, comprehensible human being * Expressen *Enthralling and heart-breaking * Dagens Noeringsliv *

Asne Seierstad was born in 1970 and studied Russian, Spanish and the History of Philosophy at Oslo University. An internationally bestselling author, she has also received numerous awards for her journalism. She has worked as a war correspondent across the world, including Russia, China, Iraq and Afghanistan. Her second book, The Bookseller of Kabul, has sold over two million copies and the paperback was in the Sunday Times top ten for over a year. Her other critically acclaimed works include A Hundred and One Days: A Baghdad Journal and The Angel of Grozny. Following the atrocities in Oslo and Utoya in July 2011, she attended the trial of Anders Breivik and then began work on One of Us, which became a European bestseller. All of Asne Seierstad’s books are published by Virago.