Butcher & Bolt: Two Hundred Years of Foreign Failure in Afghanistan

Afghanistan has been a strategic prize for foreign empires for more than two-hundred years. The British, Russians and Americans have all fought across its beautiful and inhospitable terrain, in conflicts variously ruthless, misguided and bloody. A century ago, the common sneer about how British soldiers treated Afghan tribesmen was that they would “butcher” them, then “bolt.”This violent history is the subject of David Loyn’s magisterial book. He begins with the first British mission exactly two hundred years ago that ushered in a history of conflict littered with misunderstandings and broken promises, in which the British, the Russians and later the Americans, constantly under-estimated the ability of the Afghans and the power of the Frontier tribes.Butcher & Bolt brilliantly brings to life the personalities involved in Afghanistan’s relationship with the world, chronicling the misunderstandings and missed opportunities that have so often led to war. Coming right up to date, it draws on David Loyn’s unrivalled knowledge of the Taliban today and the forces that currently prevail in Afghanistan, to provide the definitive analysis of the lessons these conflicts have for the present day.

History

Loyn, David

Asia

Hutchinson

Afghanistan has been a strategic prize for foreign empires for more than two-hundred years. The British, Russians and Americans have all fought across its beautiful and inhospitable terrain, in conflicts variously ruthless, misguided and bloody. A century ago, the common sneer about how British soldiers treated Afghan tribesmen was that they would “butcher” them, then “bolt.” This violent history is the subject of David Loyn’s magisterial book. He begins with the first British mission exactly two hundred years ago that ushered in a history of conflict littered with misunderstandings and broken promises, in which the British, the Russians and later the Americans, constantly under-estimated the ability of the Afghans and the power of the Frontier tribes. Butcher &amp; Bolt brilliantly brings to life the personalities involved in Afghanistan’s relationship with the world, chronicling the misunderstandings and missed opportunities that have so often led to war. Coming right up to date, it draws on David Loyn’s unrivalled knowledge of the Taliban today and the forces that currently prevail in Afghanistan, to provide the definitive analysis of the lessons these conflicts have for the present day. From the Hardcover edition.

WINDMILL

Frontline - the True Story of the British Mavericks Who Changed The Face of War Reporting

Biographies & Memoirs

Arts & Literature

Penguin Books, Ltd.

Afghanistan has been a strategic prize for foreign empires for more than 200 years. The British, Russians, and Americans have all fought across its beautiful and inhospitable terrain, in conflicts variously ruthless, misguided and bloody. This violent history is the subject of David Loyn's magisterial book. It is a history littered with misunderstandings and broken promises, in which the British, the Russians, and later the Americans, constantly underestimated the ability of the Afghans. In Afghanistan brilliantly brings to life the personalities involved in Afghanistan's relationship with the world, chronicling the misunderstandings and missed opportunities that have so often led to war. With 30 years experience as a foreign correspondent, David Loyn has had a front-row seat during Afghanistan's recent history. In Afghanistan draws on David Loyn's unrivalled knowledge of the Taliban and the forces that prevail in Afghanistan, to provide the definitive analysis of the lessons these conflicts have for the present day.

In Afghanistan: Two Hundred Years of British, Russian and American Occupation

St.Martin's Press

Product Description 
Just as U. S. soldiers and diplomats pulled out of Afghanistan, supposedly concluding their role and responsibility in the two-decade conflict, the country fell to the Taliban. In The Long War, award-winning BBC foreign correspondent David Loyn uncovers the political and military strategies―and failures―that prolonged America’s longest war.Three American presidents tried to defeat the Taliban―sending 150,000 international troops at the war’s peak with a trillion-dollar price tag. But early policy mistakes that allowed Osama bin Laden to escape made the task far more difficult. Deceived by easy victories, they backed ruthless corrupt local allies and misspent aid.The story of The Long War is told by the generals who led it through the hardest years of combat as surges of international troops tried to turn the tide. Generals, which include David Petraeus, Stanley McChrystal, Joe Dunford and John Allen, were tested in battle as never before. With the reputation of a “warrior monk,” McChrystal was considered one of the most gifted military leaders of his generation. He was one of two generals to be fired in this most public of commands.Holding together the coalition of countries who joined America’s fight in Afghanistan was just one part of the multi-dimensional puzzle faced by the generals, as they fought an elusive and determined enemy while responsible for thousands of young American and allied lives. The Long War goes behind the scenes of their command and of the Afghan government.The fourth president to take on the war, Joe Biden ordered troops to withdraw in 2021, twenty years after 9/11, just as the Taliban achieved victory, leaving behind an unstable nation and an unforeseeable future. 
 Review 
"Loyn’s pages are steeped in tragic misinterpretation and always with a sympathy for ordinary people who deserved much better. A well-executed and dispiriting study of imperial overreach and cultural collision." ―Kirkus (starred review)"This deeply reported chronicle of America’s “forever war"...offers blunt and persuasive assessments...Distinguished by its granular detail and insider access, this is an authoritative study of where things went wrong." ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)Praise for In Afghanistan:“It would be naive to suggest that the odds favour success. Loyn's excellent primer explains why, and should be slipped into President Obama's Christmas stocking.” ―Max Hastings for The Sunday Times (UK) “The US will have a new leader by 2009, as perhaps will Britain. He should read this superb book before he makes matters worse.” ―Daily Telegraph (UK)“[There are] terrific―and terrifying―tales in this short, sharp book. . .In Afghanistan targets the educated general reader, but it could educate generals.” ―New York Post“I could not have enjoyed it more and think it quite excellent. It is a great pity some of those who involved us in what is going on now did not understand what we would be up against.” ―General Lord Guthrie, Head of Britain’s armed forces when the Afghan war was launched in 2001 “Gripping” ―Daily Mail (UK)“Excellent” ―The Times (UK)“This is a terrific reminder of how effective a book can be when the place it depicts is beyond the average traveller’s reach” ―Irish Times 
 About the Author 
DAVID LOYN was an award-winning foreign correspondent for thirty years for the BBC. He is an authority on Afghanistan, a country he has visited every year since 1994. In 2017, he worked for a year as an adviser in the office of the Afghan president Ashraf Ghani. His book 
Frontline: The True Story of the British Mavericks who Changed the Face of War Reporting was shortlisted for the 2006 Orwell Prize. He lives in London.

The Long War: The Inside Story of America and Afghanistan Since 9/11

Historical

Long War

Politics & Social Sciences

Politics & Government

St. Martins Press-3PL

The larger-than-life story of Frontline TV News, a cooperative of independent journalists responsible for some of the most memorable news images of the 1990s "If you are in a battle and you are filming, your adrenalin rises to a very high level. You can get hooked on that. . . . You have to get in and get your pictures out. It's a wonderful challenge." Remember turning on the television and seeing shots of rockets fired at night in the first Gulf War, the first massacre victims in Kosovo, the U.S. bomb that killed women and children in a bunker in Baghdad, and Mullah Omar declaring holy war for the Taliban? The men and women at the Frontline news agency believed the public should see the true horrors of war and courageously went where other news organizations feared to tread. Risking everything to show the truth, they traveled the world's most dangerous places in a quest to live life to the full, a quest some paid for with their lives. This is their story.

Frontline: Reporting from the World's Deadliest Places

Summersdale

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