Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jun 2012
384 pages
Genre: History, Current Affairs and Religion
Publication Information
In this extraordinarily insightful, illuminating book, Rajiv Chandrasekaran focuses on southern Afghanistan in the year of Obama's surge, and reveals the epic tug of war that occurred between the president and a military that, once on the ground, increasingly went its own way.
This political battle's profound ramifications for the region and the world are laid bare through a cast of fascinating characters - disillusioned and inept diplomats, frustrated soldiers, headstrong officers - who played a part in the process of pumping American money and soldiers into Afghan nation-building.
What emerges is a detailed picture of unsavory compromise - warlords who were to be marginalized suddenly embraced, the Karzai family transformed from foe to friend, fighting corruption no longer a top priority - and a venture that has become unsustainable in every way: politically, financially, and strategically.
"Solid and timely reporting, crackling prose, and more than a little controversy will make this one of the summer’s hot reads. Agent: Rafe Sagalyn, Sagalyn Literary Agency. " - Publishers Weekly
"Important documentation I hope readers aren't too jaded to consider." - Library Journal
"Chandrasekaran systematically condemns the missed opportunities and the wasted resources of the campaign. 'For years, we dwelled on the limitations of the Afghans,' he writes. 'We should have focused on ours.' A timely, convincing portrait of an occupation in crisis, with much to teach anyone involved in diplomacy or international aid." - Kirkus
"Fascinating and fresh ...Chandrasekaran is a superb reporter and graceful writer whose individual vignettes, focused on military and civilian misfires, are on-target and often mortifying." - The Wall Street Journal
"Brilliant .. Only a journalist with Chandrasekaran’s experience and skill could tell this extraordinarily complicated story with such clarity." - Newsday
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Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Rajiv Chandrasekaran is senior correspondent and associate editor of The Washington Post, where he has worked since 1994. He has been the newspaper's bureau chief in Baghdad, Cairo, and Southeast Asia, and has been covering Afghanistan off and on for a decade. His first book, Imperial Life in the Emerald City, won the Overseas Press Club book award.
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