Fascinating, comprehensive, and timely, Afghanistan examines the troubled history of a nation whose global relevance continues to hold the international spotlight.
Reaching as far back as the seventh century A.D., when Arab armies imported the new religion of Islam into a predominantly Buddhist country, Martin Ewans shows how centuries of invasions, fierce tribal rivalries, and powerful dynasties led to the creation of an Afghan empire during the eighteenth century. From there he moves on to examine the various milestones on the country's road to the twenty-first century. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Afghanistan was caught up in the "Great Game," the struggle between Britain and Russia for supremacy in Central Asia, until it was finally able to declare independence in 1919. The ruling Afghan dynasty was overthrown by a communist coup in the 1970s, which was answered in turn by a Soviet invasion in 1979. Roughly a decade later, the Soviet Union was forced to withdraw and left Afghanistan with a civil war that was to tear apart the nation's last remnants of religious and ethnic unity. It was into this climate that the Taliban was born. 
What emerges in Ewans's lucid and dispassionate prose is the story of a once powerful empire whose traditions and political stability have in recent years been reduced to ruins. Today Afghanistan is war-torn and economically destitute, struggling under a brutal and extremist regime. Martin Ewans, a former senior diplomat in the British embassy in Afghanistan, carefully and concisely weighs the lessons of history to provide a frank look at Afghanistan's fragile relationship with its neighboring countries and the national and international resonances of the Taliban's concept of Islamic society.

Afghanistan: A Short History of Its People and Politics

History

Ewans, Martin

Asia

Harper

A fascinating chronicle of a nation's turbulent history. 
Reaching back to earliest times, Martin Ewans examines the historical evolution of one of today's most dangerous breeding grounds of global terrorism. After a succession of early dynasties and the emergence of an Afghan empire during the eighteenth century, the nineteenth and early twentieth century saw a fierce power struggle between Russia and Britain for supremacy in Afghanistan that was ended by the nation's proclamation of independence in 1919. A communist coup in the late 1970s overthrew the established regime and led to the invasion of Soviet troops in 1979. Roughly a decade later, the Soviet Union withdrew, condemning Afghanistan to a civil war that tore apart the nation's last remnants of religious, ethnic, and political unity. It was into this climate that the Taliban was born. Today, war-torn and economically destitute, Afghanistan faces unique challenges as it looks toward an uncertain future. Martin Ewans carefully weighs the lessons of history to provide a frank look at Afghanistan's prospects and the international resonances of the nation's immense task of total political and economic reconstruction.

Harper-perennial

Afghanistan - A New History

Sir Martin Ewans, former Head of the British Chancery in Kabul, puts into an historical and contemporary context the series of tragic events that have impinged on Afghanistan in the past fifty years. The book examines the roots of these developments in Afghanistan's earlier history and external relationships, as well as their contemporary relevance, internally, regionally, and globally. The book also reviews in details the emergence of the Taliban, their ideology and their place within Islam, and examines Afghanistan's relevance in global issues, notably the nature of Islamic extremism, the international drugs trade and international terrorism. It ends with an analysis of the country post-Taliban.

CARR, ROBYN

Ewans, Sir Martin

Weber, Patrick

Routledge

Asymmetric warfare, involving conflicts where smaller powers apply their strengths against the weaknesses of a more powerful opponent, has become a key modern concern since the September 11th attacks. Conflict in Afghanistan tackles this issue by examining the five wars Afghanistan has waged against foreign powers over the past two centuries, all of which have involved forms of asymmetric warfare. Incorporating contemporary documents and material from Soviet archives, the text analyzes each war’s antecedents, conduct, and consequences. Important questions are asked about the role of religious beliefs, fanaticism, diplomacy, governmental decision-making and military competence, issues that have great contemporary relevance. The book provides an illuminating commentary of Afghanistan’s wars and examines the relevance of these conflicts to the modern-day challenge of counter-insurgency and asymmetric warfare.

Conflict in Afghanistan: Studies in Asymetric Warfare

Reference

Securing the Indian Frontier in Central Asia (Central Asian Studies)

The three decades between 1865 and 1895 marked a particularly contentious period in the relationship between Britain and Russia in Central Asia, which more than once brought them to the verge of war. Moderates tried to settle the problem by the negotiation of ‘neutral zones’, or firm boundaries, but the issue was complicated by misreading of intentions, much internal confusion and dispute, and considerable ignorance of the geographical and geopolitical factors involved. This careful and detailed analysis examines the strategic thinking and diplomatic discourse which underlay the whole period, and in particular of the succession of efforts to establish a frontier, which eventually brought the period to a close without a major confrontation being provoked. Based on relevant records in the PRO and the British Library, as well as private papers, press comment, parliamentary debates and other contemporary accounts, Sir Martin Ewans provides a ‘history of thought' of this crucial period in Central Asia. He provides an insight into the manner in which issues of war and peace were handled in the 19th Century and a fascinating case study of a great power relationship prior to the First World War. An important contribution to the study of Asian history, Tsarist Russia, imperial history and the history of British India, this book will also be of interest in India and Pakistan as a study of the events that led to the definition and consolidation of their northern frontiers.

Securing the Indian Frontier in Central Asia: Confrontation and Negotiation, 1865-1895 (Central Asian Studies)

Asymmetric warfare, involving conflicts where smaller powers apply their strengths against the weaknesses of a more powerful opponent, has become a key modern concern since the September 11th attacks. Conflict in Afghanistan tackles this issue by examining the five wars Afghanistan has waged against foreign powers over the past two centuries, all of which have involved forms of asymmetric warfare.  Incorporating contemporary documents and material from Soviet archives, the text analyzes each war’s antecedents, conduct, and consequences. Important questions are asked about the role of religious beliefs, fanaticism, diplomacy, governmental decision-making and military competence, issues that have great contemporary relevance. The book provides an illuminating commentary of Afghanistan’s wars and examines the relevance of these conflicts to the modern-day challenge of counter-insurgency and asymmetric warfare.

Conflict in Afghanistan

Sir Martin Ewans, former Head of the British Chancery in Kabul, puts into an historical and contemporary context the tragic events that have impinged on Afghanistan in the past half century

There is a broad consensus among those who are concerned with Africa that the plight of the continent is approaching the catastrophic. Partly the roots of the problem are historical, stemming from the exploitation and colonisation of the continent by European powers. An appreciation of the history of the relationship between Europe and Africa, a major episode of which this book examines, is indispensable to an understanding of the continent's present predicament. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries King Leopold II of the Belgians established a colony in Africa, which, as the Congo Free State, became a byword for unremitting exploitation and widespread atrocities. This book describes the creation, the development and the collapse both of this regime and of the Belgian colony that replaced it. Conclusions are drawn about the nature of European colonialism in Africa and the consequences for Europe itself.

European Atrocity, African Catastrophe: Leopold II, the Congo Free State and its Aftermath

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Books by Ewans, Martin

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Ewans, Martin. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Afghanistan: A Short History of Its People and Politics

Afghanistan: A Short History of Its People and Politics

Afghanistan - A New History

Conflict in Afghanistan: Studies in Asymetric Warfare

Securing the Indian Frontier in Central Asia: Confrontation and Negotiation, 1865-1895 (Central Asian Studies)

Securing the Indian Frontier in Central Asia (Central Asian Studies)

Conflict in Afghanistan

Afghanistan - A New History

Afghanistan - A New History

European Atrocity, African Catastrophe: Leopold II, the Congo Free State and its Aftermath