by Rory Stewart
from Harvest Books
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Editorial ReviewIn January 2002 Rory Stewart walked across Afghanistan-surviving by his wits, his knowledge of Persian dialects and Muslim customs, and the kindness of strangers. By day he passed through mountains covered in nine feet of snow, hamlets burned and emptied by the Taliban, and communities thriving amid the remains of medieval civilizations. By night he slept on villagers' floors, shared their meals, and listened to their stories of the recent and ancient past. Along the way Stewart met heroes and rogues, tribal elders and teenage soldiers, Taliban commanders and foreign-aid workers. He was also adopted by an unexpected companion-a retired fighting mastiff he named Babur in honor of Afghanistan's first Mughal emperor, in whose footsteps the pair was following.
Through these encounters-by turns touching, con-founding, surprising, and funny-Stewart makes tangible the forces of tradition, ideology, and allegiance that shape life in the map's countless places in between.
Customer Reviews:
- Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
- Tangible Realism
Rory Stewart's The Places in Between is a riveting account of modern day Afghanistan. By walking from Herat to Kabul in the middle of winter Stewart's journey unwraps the indescribable chaos caused by 25 years of war and western intervention. He does not make excuses for war. Rather his historical notes and cultural insights help to give shape to why western efforts to aid war torn Afghanistan are largely unsuccessful. His authentic account of rural Afghan culture and history illuminates the vunralbility to... more info
- A snapshot of Afghanistan in 2001
I read this book right after having seen "Charlie Wilson's War", so the impact on my knowledge of Afghanistan is probably influenced by the light and ironic interpretation of the movie.
Rory Stewart a journalist and former fellow of the Carr Center for Human Right's Policy has written a diary of his one month journey on foot through Afghanistan.
The many reviews and the apparently great fortune of this book rely on it's subject, Afghanistan, it's timing, right after 9/11, the way the Author... more info
- A Little Boring
A little boring in terms of the story...perhaps that's because I live in Afghanistan now. But the book is probably as realistic as it is boring. However, the description of geography is great. For someone "trapped" in Kabul this is a decent substitute for getting out and seeing it myself.
I work with one of the characters in the book, His Excellency Ismail Khan, former warlord. I find the reputation that Ismail Khan has developed over the years, including the one projected by the book to be... more info
- Meh
What Mr. Stewart did was brave, and interesting in theory, but the narrative that emerges is unavoidably monotonous, as the areas he walked through are pretty much the armpit of the world. Blah blah snow blah grudgingly given sleep space in the mosque blah left the next day blah Kalashnikovs blah they threw rocks at my dog again. I was hoping for a much more eventful story as I love travel writing and have been wanting to know more about that part of the world... and it turns out, not surprisingly, that... more info
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