Delusions of Paradise

Escaping the Life of a Taliban Fighter

Maiwand Banayee

$49.99

Hardback

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English

Icon Books
24 April 2025

Autobiography: historical, political & military; Memoirs; True stories; Terrorism, armed struggle

When Maiwand Banayee was 16, he wanted to become a suicide bomber for the Taliban.

In this inspiring tale of survival and self-discovery, the reader will follow Maiwand's journey down a dark path and his ultimate redemption. Growing up in Kabul amid the Afghan wars, he witnessed atrocities that no child should ever see - rotting corpses, starving families, a neighbourhood torn apart. He escaped to a refugee camp in Pakistan, where religious militants began the gradual grooming of Maiwand and other Afghan boys. These confused and traumatised children were indoctrinated, radicalised and prepared to die in the name of a religious war. But Maiwand escaped this life. Fleeing Afghanistan, he had a life-altering crisis of faith, confidence and meaning, finding new purpose and rebuilding himself.

Maiwand taught himself how to read and write in English, and here tells his astonishing story in crystalline prose. Delusions of Paradise offers a powerful warning about the dangers of radical religion, and is a stunning celebration of self-determination and redemption from an important new voice.

AUTHOR: Maiwand Banayee was born in in Kabul at the onset of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. By the time he was twelve the country was engulfed in civil war and he fled to a refugee camp, where he enrolled in a madrassa and joined the Taliban. At 22 he rejected Islamic extremism and sought asylum in the UK, eventually living in Ireland before returning to England. He has been published in Stinging Fly and War, Literature & the Arts: An International Journal of the Humanities. This is his first book.

By: Maiwand Banayee
Imprint: Icon Books
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 153mm,
ISBN: 9781837731909
ISBN 10: 183773190X
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 24 April 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Maiwand Banayee was born in in Kabul at the onset of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. By the time he was twelve the country was engulfed in civil war and he fled to a refugee camp, where he enrolled in a madrassa and joined the Taliban. At 22 he rejected Islamic extremism and sought asylum in the UK, eventually living in Ireland before returning to England. He has been published in Stinging Fly and War, Literature & the Arts: An International Journal of the Humanities. This is his first book.

Reviews for Delusions of Paradise: Escaping the Life of a Taliban Fighter

A masterpiece of survival and human endeavour. * Clifford Thurlow, author of How to Rob the Bank of England * An unflinching account of life in war-torn Kabul, and the Islamic fundamentalism that becomes so attractive in the vacuum left by an absence of hope. When young men have nothing to live for, they may find a cause to die for. * Chris Aslan, author of Unravelling the Silk Road *