Books:
Travel:
Afghanistan
The Places in Between
by Rory Stewart
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From Publishers Weekly
We never really find out why Stewart decided to walk across Afghanistan only a few months after the Taliban were deposed, but what emerges from the last leg of his two-year journey across Asia is a lesson in good travel writing. By turns harrowing and meditative, Stewart's trek through Afghanistan in the footsteps of the 15th-century emperor Babur is edifying at every step, grounded by his knowledge of local history, politics and dialects. His prose is lean and unsentimental: whether pushing through chest-high snow in the mountains of Hazarajat or through villages still under de facto Taliban control, his descriptions offer a cool assessment of a landscape and a people eviscerated by war, forgotten by time and isolated by geography. The well-oiled apparatus of his writing mimics a dispassionate camera shutter in its precision. But if we are to accompany someone on such a highly personal quest, we want to know who that person is. Unfortunately, Stewart shares little emotional background; the writer's identity is discerned best by inference. Sometimes we get the sense he cares more for preserving history than for the people who live in it (and for whom historical knowledge would be luxury). But remembering Geraldo Rivera's gunslinging escapades, perhaps we could use less sap and more clarity about this troubled and fascinating country.(May)
Copyright © Reed business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Stewart, a resident of Scotland, has written for the New York Times Magazine and the London Review of Books, and he is a former fellow at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. In January 2002, having just spent 16 months walking across Iran, Pakistan, India, and Nepal, Stewart began a walk across Afghanistan from Herat to Kabul. Although the Taliban had been ousted several weeks earlier, Stewart was launching a journey through a devastated, unsettled, and unsafe landscape. The recounting of that journey makes for an engrossing, surprising, and often deeply moving portrait of the land and the peoples who inhabit it. Stewart relates his encounters with ordinary villagers, security officials, students, displaced Taliban officials, foreign-aid workers, and rural strongmen, and his descriptions of the views and attitudes of those he lived with are presented in frank, unvarnished terms. Nation building in Afghanistan remains a work in progress, and this work should help those who wish to understand the complexities of that task. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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The Bookseller of Kabul
by Asne Seierstad
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From Publishers Weekly
After living for three months with the Kabul bookseller Sultan Khan in the spring of 2002, Norwegian journalist Seierstad penned this astounding portrait of a nation recovering from war, undergoing political flux and mired in misogyny and poverty. As a Westerner, she has the privilege of traveling between the worlds of men and women, and though the book is ostensibly a portrait of Khan, its real strength is the intimacy and brutal honesty with which it portrays the lives of Afghani living under fundamentalist Islam. Seierstad also expertly outlines Sultan's fight to preserve whatever he can of the literary life of the capital during its numerous decades of warfare (he stashed some 10,000 books in attics around town). Seierstad, though only 31, is a veteran war reporter and a skilled observer; as she hides behind her burqa, the men in the Sultan's family become so comfortable with her presence that she accompanies one of Sultan's sons on a religious pilgrimage and witnesses another buy sex from a beggar girl-then offer her to his brother. This is only one of many equally shocking stories Seierstad uncovers. In another, an adulteress is suffocated by her three brothers as ordered by their mother. Seierstad's visceral account is equally seductive and repulsive and resembles the work of Martha Gellhorn. An international bestseller, it will likely stand as one of the best books of reportage of Afghan life after the fall of the Taliban.
Copyright 2003 Reed business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From School Library Journal
Adult/High School–A female journalist from Norway moved in with the Khan family in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban. Disguised as she was behind the bulky, shapeless burka and escorted always by a man and even in Western dress, she was somehow anonymous and accepted readily into the bookseller's large extended family. Her account is of the tragedy, contradictions, rivalries, and daily frustrations of a middle-class Afghan family. She accompanied the women as they shopped and dressed for a wedding and was privy to the negotiations for the marriage. She tells of the death by suffocation of a young woman who met her lover in secret, the bored meanderings of a 12-year-old boy forced to work 12-hour days selling candy in a hotel lobby, and of going on a religious pilgrimage with a restless, frustrated teen. All this is recounted with journalistic objectivity in spite of her close ties to the Khans. Events that the author doesn't actually witness or participate in, she recounts from conversations with members of the family, primarily Sultan Khan's sister. There is much irony here–Sultan, who has risked his life to protect and disseminate books with diverse points of view, denies his sons the right to pursue an education and subjects his female relatives to drudgery and humiliation.–Jackie Gropman, Chantilly Regional Library, VA
Copyright © Reed business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
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Straying from the Flock: Travels in New Zealand
by Alexander Elder
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Book Description
An illuminating road trip through the history, life, and attractions of one of the most beautiful countries in the southern hemisphere
The beauty and grandeur of New Zealand has captured the imagination of movie-goers over the past couple of years, and the country is a dream destination for many around the world. Straying from the Flock is an intimate and personal account of one passionate traveler's visit to this incredible country, its mountains and beaches, fjords, rainforests, vineyards, and hidden eateries. Each of the fifty chapters describes one day in his travels-fishing, flying, cattle herding, befriending locals at every turn. Filled with colorful stories and memorable personalities, the book not only describes the trip of a lifetime, but captures a life-altering experience for its writer. From mountains and rainforests to cities and beaches, Straying from the Flock is both a moving memoir and personal travel guide to this amazing country.
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"An illuminating road trip through the history, life, and attractions of one of the most beautiful countries in the southern hemisphere
The beauty and grandeur of New Zealand has captured the imagination of movie-goers over the past couple of years, and the country is a dream destination for many around the world. Straying from the Flock is an intimate and personal account of one passionate traveler's visit to this incredible country, its mountains and beaches, fjords, rainforests, vineyards, and hidden eateries. Each of the fifty chapters describes one day in his travels-fishing, flying, cattle herding, befriending locals at every turn. Filled with colorful stories and memorable personalities, the book not only describes the trip of a lifetime, but captures a life-altering experience for its writer. From mountains and rainforests to cities and beaches, Straying from the Flock is both a moving memoir and personal travel guide to this amazing country."
--This text refers to the
Digital
edition.
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Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door 2006: The Travel Skills Handbook (Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door)
by Rick Steves
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Book Description
From train and rail pass skills to strategies for visiting open-air folk museums, who else but Rick Steves can teach travelers the skills they really need when traveling through Europe? Learn how to deal with all of the small details of planning a trip to Europe with Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door 2006. America's number one authority on travel to Europe, Rick Steves has done the legwork, discovered the secrets, and made the mistakes — so travelers don't have to. Completely revised and updated, Rick's time-tested recommendations for safe and enjoyable travel in Europe have been used by millions of Americans in search of their own unique European travel experience. Rick's travel tips include: sticking to a budget; smart packing; planning ahead for visiting major sites; personal safety; avoiding tourist traps; and finding Europe's "back door" attractions. Smart advice is also offered on everything from social etiquette to booking a hotel and ordering food. Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door 2006 is an essential item on any European traveler's checklist.
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A European adventure is a major investment of time and money. Read the first page
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travel speccs, official hostels, international calling cards, independent hostels, good guidebook, flash drive, solo travel, travel partner, initial zero
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Rick Steves, United States, Eastern Europe, Cinque Terre, New York, Romantic Road, Western Europe, Czech Republic, Great Britain, European Union, Lonely Planet, Graffiti Wall, World War, Amalfi Coast, British Isles, Swiss Alps, Lake District, Eiffel Tower, American Express, Arc de Triomphe, Dingle Peninsula, King Ludwig, Hostelling International, Lake Como, Middle Ages
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Lonely Planet Central Asia (Lonely Planet Central Asia)
by Bradley Mayhew, Paul Clammer, and Michael Kohn
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Book Description
Wander through history in Uzbekistan's Silk Road towns, taste the nomad's life in a Kyrgyz yurtstay, be astonished by the bizarre personality cult of Turkmenistan's president, experience cutting-edge adventure on Tajikistan's soaring peaks and lose yourself in the desertscapes of Kazakhstan. Surreal, fascinating and addictive - discover the 'stans with this insightful and comprehensive guide. • GET THERE FIRST - brand-new coverage of Afghanistan, open to travellers for the first time in 25 years
• GET AROUND with the help of 80 detailed maps and thorough transport information
• WORK THE BUREAUCRACY like an old hand with our tips on getting visas, crossing borders and handling officials
• HANG WITH THE LOCALS - details on how to access the unique community based tourism network
• GET THE BACKGROUND on the region's intriguing history, politics and culture
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Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001
by Steve Coll
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Product Review
Steve Coll's Ghost Wars: The Secret history of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 offers revealing details of the CIA's involvement in the evolution of the Taliban and Al Qaeda in the years before the September 11 attacks. From the beginning, Coll shows how the CIA's on-again, off-again engagement with Afghanistan after the end of the Soviet war left officials at Langley with inadequate resources and intelligence to appreciate the emerging power of the Taliban. He also demonstrates how Afghanistan became a deadly playing field for international politics where Soviet, Pakistani, and U.S. agents armed and trained a succession of warring factions. At the same time, the book, though opinionated, is not solely a critique of the agency. Coll balances accounts of CIA failures with the success stories, like the capture of Mir Amal Kasi. Coll, managing editor for the Washington Post, covered Afghanistan from 1989 to 1992. He demonstrates unprecedented access to records of White House meetings and to formerly classified material, and his command of Saudi, Pakistani, and Afghani politics is impressive. He also provides a seeming insider's perspective on personalities like George Tenet, William Casey, and anti-terrorism czar, Richard Clarke ("who seemed to wield enormous power precisely because hardly anyone knew who he was or what exactly he did for a living"). Coll manages to weave his research into a narrative that sometimes has the feel of a Tom Clancy novel yet never crosses into excess. While comprehensive, Coll's book may be hard going for those looking for a direct account of the events leading to the 9-11 attacks. The CIA's 1998 engagement with bin Laden as a target for capture begins a full two-thirds of the way into Ghost Wars, only after a lengthy march through developments during the Carter, Reagan, and early Clinton Presidencies. But this is not a critique of Coll's efforts; just a warning that some stamina is required to keep up. Ghost Wars is a complex study of intelligence operations and an invaluable resource for those seeking a nuanced understanding of how a small band of extremists rose to inflict incalculable damage on American soil. --Patrick O'Kelley
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
The Globe and Mail, Toronto
With this book, Coll establishes a reputation as large as that of his Post colleague Bob Woodward.
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Angelina Jolie's: Notes from My Travels
by Angelina Jolie
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Jane Goodall, Ph.D., CBEFounder of the Jane Goodall Institute and UN Messenger of Peace Angelina is living proof of the power we all have -- every one of us -- to make a difference. I was deeply moved by her descriptions of individual refugees struggling to live with dignity and hope, and found her personal commitment to be an inspiration. Angelina's journals document her awakening as a humanitarian activist and I hope they will move readers to act. I look forward to my continued work with Angelina on behalf of the United Nations.
Book Description
Three years ago, award-winning actress Angelina Jolie took on a radically different role as a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Here are her memoirs from her journeys to Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Pakistan, Cambodia, and Ecuador, where she lived and worked and gave her heart to those who suffer the world's most shattering violence and victimization. Here are her revelations of joy and warmth amid utter destitution?compelling snapshots of courageous and inspiring people for whom survival is their daily work?and candid notes from a unique pilgrimage that completely changed the actress's worldview -- and the world within herself.
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