War & Peace & War: Twenty Years in Afghanistan

by Andrew North

In early 2022 ,veteran journalist Andrew North was kidnapped by the Taliban. By the time he found himself imprisoned in a jail cell, he had been reporting from Afghanistan for two decades, coming to know hundreds of Afghans along the way. This book brings together both his and their stories.

Farzana was banned from attending school as a child, but education would take her further than she could have imagined.

Bilal's dream of becoming a journalist came true, but at a cost.

While Abdul's ambition to become a doctor was thwarted, Jahan's prospects transformed radically for the better.

And in a quiet province, the life of a boy called Naqibullah was shattered.

Witness to both the country's transformation and the mistakes that eventually led to its collapse, in War & Peace & War North vividly evokes a country where foreign powers and internal forces have been on a collision course for over two centuries.

Genres: Nonfiction, Middle East, Politics, History, Biography, Audiobook

352 pages, Hardcover

Published March 18, 2025

Reviews

[Oleksandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Емоційно прибила мене ця книга, як людину емпатійну. Це не той нон-фікшн, який містить лише сухі факти й хронологію. Журналіст Ендрю Норт переплітає факти та хронологію, розповідаючи історію п’ятьох афганців, які були змушені покинути свої домівки, рідних і все, що було для них звичним, коли війна прийшла в їхні оселі.

З кожної сторінки відчувається, що й для самого автора ця війна — не просто сюжет для репортажу. Він прожив в Афганістані довгий час, глибоко занурився в культуру й традиції, потоваришував з місцевими, навчився бачити за заголовками — живих людей.

Через призму героїв книги ми дізнаємося не лише про те, як почалася війна, а й про її складні причини, етнічне розмаїття країни та хиткий історико-політичний ландшафт.

Цей погляд зсередини дозволяє краще зрозуміти, як війна пронизувала кожне життя, як легко стираються кордони між минулим і сучасним, коли реальність стає однією великою травмою.

Війна тривала 20 років і забрала життя понад 100 000 цивільних. Важко залишитися байдужим, важко не засмутитися. Але водночас ця книга — про гідність, витривалість і людське обличчя країни, яку світ занадто довго сприймав крізь призму стереотипів.

У час, коли світ втрачає фокус і втомлюється від чужих трагедій, такі книги повертають голос тим, про кого забули чи не хочуть слухати. І саме тому вони зараз надзвичайно важливі.

[Cav · Rating 3 out of 5]

"This book tells the story of these repeating cycles of war and glimmers of peace, through the lives and experiences of Abdul Tayib and four other Afghans whom I got to know during my 20 years of reporting from their country – Bilal, Jahan, Farzana and Naqibullah..."

War & Peace & War & War was an eye-opening look into everyday life in Afghanistan. As the quote above explains, the author tells the story of this tumultuous country through the lens of four Afghans he knows.

Author Andrew North is a journalist and writer. For several years, North was the BBC's South Asia correspondent. North has been covering Afghanistan since 2001, and was based in Kabul for the BBC for many years. He has also worked in conflicts in Iraq, Libya, and Georgia.

Andrew North:


The book is written with a decently engaging style. The author also read the audiobook version I have, which is a nice touch I almost always appreciate. He drops the quote above early on, and it continues below:

"...It sets their stories against the backdrop of Afghanistan’s past as a battleground for outside powers, including the legacy of Britain’s 19thcentury colonial invasions, the Soviet occupation during the Cold War and America’s role in backing the anti-Soviet mujahideen. And it interweaves their journeys with my own, as an outsider who spent two decades working and living in Afghanistan. In my work as a reporter, I was focused on the war. But in my day-to-day life, I was witness to a country changing and growing in spite of it. So this is also my perspective on that other side to Afghanistan’s story."

North also gives a brief summary of the history of the country here, and drops this quote, that talks about how Afghanistan is "the Graveyard of Empires:"

"Calling Afghanistan the graveyard of empires overlooks the fact that it was itself the foundation of empires, including that of its own 18th-century Durrani dynasty. The term is also inaccurate. While both Britain and the USSR were badly mauled in Afghanistan, that wasn’t the reason their two empires came to an end. Most important of all, the term ignores the reality that it is Afghanistan rather than its invaders that has always paid the heaviest price, becoming a graveyard for its own people. And that pattern continued after the Soviet withdrawal in February 1989."

******************

War & Peace & War is an important historical record. If you are interested in a telling of life in this mysterious country, then you'll likely enjoy this one.
3.5 stars.

[Tabitha James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an eye opener in to the 20+ years of war in Afghanistan. I liked how the book blended historical information with personal stories of locals the author met whilst working there. Found some bits quite hard to read as they were quite upsetting and really made me feel very privileged to be born in the UK, especially as a woman!!

[Dilyana Karadzhova · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book links historical events to the personal stories of five people. This helped me see Afghanistan through the eyes of its ordinary citizens and helped me understand the context from which some refugees are running away from.

[GingerOrange · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just absorbed this book.

I didn't know a lot about Afghanistan and the war associated with the country beyond cursory knowledge I gleaned from news stories before I read this book. But after reading this book, I can say I learnt something about the history of the conflict but also, the Afghan people. It can almost break your heart how much resilience and kindness they have. The book outlined the different groups in the conflict and how each group came to power. It outlined the successes and failures of the US government's and her allies efforts in Afghanistan. It discussed the Taliban and mujahideen fighters, as well as the local governments. Sometimes, it was clear who was responsible for the conflict, other times, it wasn't clear at all. The book also outlined how the US-backed Afghan government collapsed after the US's withdrawal. I also didn't previously know about Afghanistan's history with the Soviet Union and Britain. Reading this book, I really got the feel for all these different groups jockying for power and ultimately, the Afghan people suffering the most for it.

There is hope in this book too. The book discusses the modernisation of Kabul and introduction of women's education into Afghan society in the years where the US were present in-country. It wasn't wholeheartedly accepted by everyone but there is a generation of Afghani women today that hold university degrees to their name. However, I think, in today's Afghanistan, women are no longer permitted education past primary school. The last few chapters in this book were about the chaos surrounding the days of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the re-settling of Afghan refugees in other countries, and the author's own imprisonment in Afghanistan were quite emotionally moving because it focused on the people, not the politics or higher-ups. It also read like a thriller at times because you could feel the desperation for safety.

There's a poignant question posed in this novel, rhetorically, I think. But it summarises the US government's efforts in Afghanistan, "How did the United States and its allies spend 20 years replacing the Taliban with the Taliban?"

In conclusion, it was a great book. I got lost in the history in the beginning, especially the history related to the USSR. But I was so absorbed in the lives of the Afghan people. The present day politics was understandbly laid out.

[irwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The defeat and return of the Taliban in Afghanistan

A comprehensive and fast-paced account of 20 years of upheaval in Afghanistan that is accessible both to those fascinated by this country and those with only a passing knowledge. The stories of the author’s friends and colleagues make the book personal and sympathetic with their interweaving lives and experiences offering different perspectives on how the Taliban, defeated by the US-led coalition post 9/11, came to rule the country yet again.

[Amir Rowaichi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A pretty brutal summary of the damage done to a country and its people over decades, but particularly the last 20-odd years.
Should be read by those in power to understand the consequences of their (in)actions.
I hope the people in this book find the peace they deserve.

[E J Pavlov · Rating 3 out of 5]

The winding tale of four afghans on their journey through the world’s most uncertain war—the fight against terrorist ideology written well and readable. While the book makes mention of the disorganized and poorly defined mission it avoids deeper questions and perhaps doesn’t explore the war as much as the hopes of four or five characters the author met during an illy planned operation.

As a reader, I was hoping the twenty year experience of the author with this country and people would yield more nuance and insight. There were a few paragraphs on the Pashtunwali honor code, an important feature of the Pashtun identity (the tribe that dominates Taliban ranks) but little exploration of it. Two paragraphs make mention of the Bachi Boys, but seem to exist to underscore the US military’s instruction to ignore the culturally normative practice resulting in the sexual abuse of young boys. (Don’t linger on that reader, focus on North’s Afghan friends. Criticize US military possible, not the possible cultural practices that may contribute to this country’s habit of training and harboring those with declared aims to destroy all nonbelievers. North’s friends aren’t like the ones you’ve hear so much about).

While one of the characters is a young woman, she’s statistically an outlier. She’s not only educated to the master’s level but avoids forced marriage and is permitted to live single and alone in Kabul. In a country with a literacy rate of 37%, this educational achievement alone seems more than remarkable. In a country where most women are sold into marriage, their sexual purity a symbol of family honor, her relative freedom seems nearly unbelievable. How? Why did this woman escape the fate of so many others? Particular to her? Her family? The Hazara tribe? North doesn’t really explore it. As a journalist with both access and exposure to an area of the world most of us would not be brave enough to venture to, it was puzzling that there wasn’t as much as a nod to the millions of other Afghan women who are sold into slavery, deprived of education and aren’t allowed these luxuries.

North is detained by the Taliban, who seem hospitable (despite their habit of public executions of adulterers under Sharia law). He seems more interested in lauding the accomplishments of his Afghan friends, all of whom seem unrepresentative of the wider culture, than answering complex questions. Maybe coalition forces were there because they didn’t have anything better to do.. but Afghanistan and its people were and are really just fine?

I closed the book wondering if the author was there much at all. If he was, he seemed to take more notes on the food than anything else. Fun read. No insights.

[RoPlo28 · Rating 3 out of 5]

listened to the audiobook on spotify and it was alright