ISBN: 0971717605
ISBN13: 9780971717602
Lessons from Afghanistan
ISBN: 0971717605
ISBN13: 9780971717602
Formats
Conditions
Formats
Conditions
Book Overview
The events of September 11 suddenly made Afghanistan a focus of American interest. Yet a search of bookstores and libraries will reveal that no book about the country, its history, geography, or culture exists for the common reader. Using as a springboard a recounting one of the earliest (and the smallest) Peace Corps projects which sent nine Americans to that nation in 1962, Lessons from Afghanistan explores what it is really like for someone to live in an essentially medieval culture in the current century. Conventions about the use of time and space, attitudes about life stemming from thousand-year old traditions, and the practical necessities of living in a country fragmented by geography and history are the underlying facts of life in Afghanistan. These are barriers to progress but, more important, they are the realities which Americans so poorly understand and must learn of in the process of becoming re-engaged with other nations in response to international terrorism. It is a book filled with incidents and experiences that describe a remote, little-understood culture, but it is also a book that reveals the blindness of our own culture to alternative worldviews outside our borders. This description may be from another edition of this product.
- Format:
- Paperback
- Language:
- English
- ISBN:
- 0971717605
- ISBN13:
- 9780971717602
- Release Date:
- February 2002
- Publisher:
- D F Pubns
- Length:
- 154 Pages
- Weight:
- 0.60 lbs.
- Dimensions:
- 8.8″ × 0.3″ × 6.0″
Related Subjects
Customer Reviews
Instructive, Entertaining and Thoughtful
David Fleishhacker uses his personal experience in the Peace Corps in Afghanistan as a framework to teach us about that country's history, topography, and culture. His sense of humor and his affection for the people of Afghanistan make this a fun book to read, but Fleishhacker also has a strong message--urging everyone to gain more knowledge and understanding of other cultures and places in the world. A wonderful book!
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Everyone Should Read This
Three cheers for David Fleishhacker, a wonderful writer! And, three cheers for the Peace Corps! Far more than a collection of reminiscences, this little book contains the sort of philosophy, based on history and experience, that should be the underpinning of our foreign policy everywhere. I devoured it at one sitting and only wished he had written more. Clear, funny, honest and tender, this book should be required reading for our entire State Department, the Military Establishment, the "Lords of Poverty" (international aid/relief organizations)and literally every American involved in overseas activity. For that matter, it should be required reading in every high school and board room in the country. Great stuff.
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A Street Level View of Afghanistan
David Fleishhacker's "Lessons from Afghanistan" is based on the author's experiences in the country as a Peace Corps volunteer in the 1960's. This brief account is, however, more than just a memoir of a vistor who was in Afghanistan forty years ago. Fleishhacker deftly connects his experiences with current events. Unlike many of the "instant experts" whose views on Afghanistan appear daily in the media, this book gives one a feel for what the country is really like. This slim book is a good way to get a sense of the country as experienced by someone who was there and who had an opportunity to observe the way average people live their lives.
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A most timely account
This is a most entertaining and enjoyable book to read about a part of the world which is virtually unknown to most Americans. It is well written and contains many anecdotes and amusing incidents relating to the author's personal experience in the Peace Corps in Kabul and Mazar-I-Sharif in the 60's. Beyond that, however, it provides comment which should be food for thought for anyone who wishes to follow or who seeks to implement American foreign policy in the future. The comments on basic issues faced in Afghanistan are timeless and universal in nature and provide much food for thought.
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