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The Afghans

Three lives through war, love and revolt - from the bestselling author of The Bookseller of...

Åsne Seierstad Seán Kinsella

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English
Virago
01 November 2025
'As an exploration of the social fabric of Afghan life, this book takes some beating' Daily Telegraph
'A valuable addition to the canon of literature on Afghanistan ... [Seierstad] manages to achieve a rare intimacy' New York Times

'Asne Seierstad is one of the greatest, most courageous journalists of our time. . . This is an important, heartbreaking book' Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation

From the internationally bestselling author of The Bookseller of Kabul, this is an unforgettable portrait of three people living under the Taliban today.

There is Jamila, a women's rights activist who got an education when few women could; Bashir, a Taliban commander who grew up eager to avenge a father killed by security forces; and Ariana, a law student who is now barred from her university and facing the prospect of an arranged marriage to a man she does not love. Through the stories of these three Afghans, we experience what it is to live under the Taliban now, and think about where this leaves Afghans today, and tomorrow.

'Ambitious ... absorbing' Boston Globe

'An astonishing feat of writing and reporting . . . one of the finest books written on Afghanistan in a generation' Eliza Griswold, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Amity and Prosperity

'Harrowing, uplifting, fascinating, challenging and profound, no other recent book on the subject comes close' CPW Gammell, author of The Pearl of Khorasan: A History of Herat

'Asne Seierstad is the supreme non-fiction writer of her generation' Luke Harding
By:  
Translated by:  
Imprint:   Virago
Country of Publication:   United Kingdom
Dimensions:   Height: 196mm,  Width: 126mm,  Spine: 30mm
Weight:   360g
ISBN:   9781408717950
ISBN 10:   1408717956
Pages:   448
Publication Date:  
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Primary ,  Undergraduate
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming

Asne Seierstad was born in 1970 and studied Russian, Spanish and the History of Philosophy at Oslo University. An internationally bestselling author, she has also received numerous awards for her journalism. She has worked as a war correspondent across the world, including Russia, China, Iraq and Afghanistan. Her second book, The Bookseller of Kabul, has sold over two million copies and the paperback was in the Sunday Times top ten for over a year. Her other critically acclaimed works include A Hundred and One Days: A Baghdad Journal and The Angel of Grozny. Following the atrocities in Oslo and Utoya in July 2011, she attended the trial of Anders Breivik and then began work on One of Us, which became a European bestseller. All of Asne Seierstad's books are published by Virago.

Reviews for The Afghans: Three lives through war, love and revolt - from the bestselling author of The Bookseller of Kabul

As an exploration of the social fabric of Afghan life, this book takes some beating. It's also a deft history of the country since the 1960s, charting its journey from hippy hang-out to Soviet satellite state, jihadist battleground, and finally, failed nation-building project * Daily Telegraph * The Afghans is not simply an addictively engrossing read, but is also a work of real importance as we come to terms with Afghanistan's recent past and the return of the Taliban. This is a deeply human piece of writing which approaches the war through the eyes of the Afghans, men and women, who lived it, who made impossible choices at difficult moments, and who continue to live with the consequences. Harrowing, uplifting, fascinating, challenging and profound, no other recent book on the subject comes close * CPW Gammell, author of The Pearl of Khorasan: A History of Herat * Seierstad is masterful . . . her book is world class * Aftonbladet * Gripping . . . Seierstad succeeds in transforming the demonised stereotype - a Taliban terrorist - into a living, comprehensible human being * Expressen * Enthralling and heart-breaking * Dagens Noeringsliv * A heartbreaking account * Observer *


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