GUERRA DE LAS ALFOMBRAS, LA: Un retrato comprometido de un rincón del mundo desconocido para Occidente (Los Otros Libros)

by Christopher Kremmer

In Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kashmir, Iran, Iraq, and the Central Asian republics, carpets are viewed as objects of reverence and expressions of the highest artistic achievement. As the region's second largest export behind oil, they are also big business. "The early Muslims inhabited lands where people were born on carpets, prayed on them, and covered their tombs with them. For centuries, carpets have been a currency and an export, among the first commodities of a globalized trading system," writes author Christopher Kremmer. Even in the midst of turmoil and war, a bazaar will spring up during breaks in the fighting and carpet merchants will quickly resume business as if nothing had happened. In this detailed look at the culture and recent history of these countries, the carpet trade serves as both backdrop and metaphor for the shadowy and complex politics of the region in which trickery, illusion, and manipulation are part of the game.

The result of 10 years spent as a journalist in the region, Kremmer's book explains how the fragile web of tribal and religious alliances and the influence of outside powers have impacted the politics and economy of the area and began a continuous cycle of exile and return, along with the rise of militarism and terrorism. The book also serves as excellent travel writing, with fascinating anecdotes and telling conversations and encounters that illustrate the customs of a region that is now the focus of international attention. --Shawn Carkonen

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Travel, Middle East, Asia, India, Iran

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Jacob S · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not a collector, but I´ve seen and been offered my share of carpets from the souks in Morocco in west to Esfahan in east and quite a few places in between and heard all the “stories” that goes with each one.

This is what makes this ten-year journey something very special, the stories.
A lot of focus is directed on Afghanistan as a hub for political and religious refugees through decades, some years escaping and some years returning to what the carpet sellers thought would be a lasting stability.

We get a heartbreaking insight in the fate of the Afghan people, being pushed from all sides and mostly by people living by a doctrine not benefitting ordinary people – and this has happened again and again for the past centuries.

In 2024 Afghan refugees are being deported from Pakistan, a country many of them considered a safe haven contrary to their homeland.

I understand Christopher Kremmer´s fascination, the ancient cultures telling their ancestral history through the carpets. How carpets became not just a commodity, whether of high artistic quality or more moderate but also turned into a common currency, a currency fluctuating with supply and demand, but nevertheless a currency you could trust.

There are many stories shared, most of them by carpet salesmen from around the area, not the usual sales talk, but the personal stories about hope, occasional happiness, much hardship and cries for freedom.
Those are the people we hear, the ones with some kind of relation to the world outside the souk – imagine the stories going unheard.

If you want to know about pre/post/in-between/after life in Afghanistan this is a very good place to start.

[Daren · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book - It covers a lot of ground, and it does so slowly. This is not a high octane read, or a read that I would undertake as a primary read. It is a drop in, read a chapter, drop out type of book, and it appeals so much that I have read it twice - something I can seldom justify.

Chris Kremmer is an Australian journalist, and over a ten year period, he spend time based in, and travelling around Central Asia. This book chronicles his love of Carpets, and throws in the culture, the politics, tribalism, religion, and the people of Central Asia.
He does well in getting the mix right – the right amount of history, personal anecdote and carpet buying to keep the interest. It certainly steps outside the mainsteam media in its content, and approaches Islam with balance.

It is pre-911, taking place 1990-2000, so it avoids the reactionary journalism, but hits on some main characters in the politics and wars of Afghanistan – Ahmad Shah Massoud, Abdul Rashid Dostrum, Taliban Leaders, and a hunt for Osama Bin Laden.
Well worth seeking out.

[Krissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, while amazingly long (450 pgs) and more or less directionless, was nonetheless a pleasure to read. I can honestly say that it had no discernible overarching plot line - we jump in at a certain point in the author's life, and jump out about 10 years later - but I'm the kind of person who loves to read about what a culture "feels like" or is like to "be in." This one takes you through Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Iran, with great characters and good stories. I didn't really understand anything he said about carpets (he never gives any technical information about what the "knots" or "guls" mean, at least not enough for a novice to understand) but that didn't at all detract from my enjoyment. His descriptions of Iran solidified my need to visit there soon!

[Michael Flanagan · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an absolute gem of a book. The author takes to one of the worlds most troubled areas and tell us a story in two parts. The first is the history of the area and the second is of the people who live their now, and where does the carpet come into you may ask. That is what ties it together so nicely. This is one of those rare book I was sad to finish, I wanted it to keep going.

[Samantha Ho · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could give this gem of a book I happened to pick up at a used-books stall a dozen stars, I would. For someone who has little background on Middle Eastern and West Asian history, The Carpet Wars pretty much blew my mind - on a factual, cultural, and emotional level. The author's recounting of meetings with leaders of the army and Taliban, among others, gives glimpses of systems that the mainstream (Western) media never highlights. His personal encounters with locals loaded the book with even greater cultural richness. I found myself falling in love with a country/countries I've never even met through its characters and vivid descriptions of life there. They are put in such passionate words I feel as though one cannot help but respond that way.

I also found myself caring a lot more about carpets than I ever thought I would. Although I do wish pictures of the detailed carpets could've been included and labelled (in colour), it thrilled me to look up various, beautiful variations as well.

Few books have ever been able to capture my attention, excitement and soul as this one. A work of art in its own right.

[Paul Gaya Ochieng Simeon Juma · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE CARPET WARS is foreign correspondent Christopher Kremmer's riveting and timely account of a decade spent living, travelling and reporting from Asia and the Middle East. During his time reporting from Asia and the Middle East he formed an obsession with carpets and the 'perfect rug' - an obsession that saw him trace the threads of the carpet-making trade through the Islamic nations of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq and the former Soviet republics of Central Asia. Along the way he made lifelong friendships, but he also discovered societies ripped apart by war, religion and fratricide, and ruled over by warlords like 'the Lion of Panjsher' Ahmed Shah Massoud - and terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. tHE CARPEt WARS tells the story of Kremmer's amazing journey and his fascinating but fraught experiences in one the most ancient, misunderstood and least-touristed parts of the world.

[Kiwiflora · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not the first book I have read about this deeply troubled area of the world. It would appear the conflict of the last fifty years or so is nothing new, we just know more about it now, and the impact on the rest of the world is more profound. The first book I read was in the 12 months or so after 9/11 when places we had never heard of were in the daily news all the time. In An Unexpected Light Briton Jason Elliot recounts his time in Afghanistan in the early 1980s disguised as a fighter for the anti Soviet mujheddin resistance movement. Scary enough. English foreign correspondent Christina Lamb details her involvement in most of the world's conflicts of the last 25 years in Small Wars Permitting, one of her favourite countries being Afghanistan.

Australian journalist Christopher Kremmer uses his passion for Oriental carpets as his device to take him from country to country and regions within the Middle East prior to 9/11. Afghanistan features heavily of course, but the chapters on Iran and Kashmir are particularly interesting. He also travels to Iraq, Pakistan, and the various -kistan countries north of Iraq/Afghanistan and west of China. Plenty of history, right back to Alexander the Great, plenty of war and horror, both past and present, and the sheer indestructability of the peoples who live in these areas of the world. They have seen it all before, it seems there is no longer horror, but simply inevitability that things never change.

My only criticism of the book is that I would have liked an introductory chapter on oriental carpets thta summarised all the information distributed through the book into some logical organised form. I wish too the photos of the carpets were in colour! I became so interested in all this that I went to the local public library and looked at books there.

This is a book to expand and open the mind about an area much maligned by the West. We can learn from Mr Kremmer's travels and observations of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq prior to 2001.

[Ern Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't quite pinpoint how I feel about the author. At times he seems quite reverent of the ancient cultures he explores throughout the novel. Yet at other times through his actions he seems to disrespect those same cultural traditions, placing others in genuine jeopardy just so that he can get what he wants. I found the way these incidents were flippantly remarked upon as if they lacked significance to be quite jarring.

The book gives an interesting and somewhat intimate view into the world of carpet trading. On this point it is incredibly captivating. However, as a basis for learning of middle eastern conflict and cultured it's usefulness is limited to the mere mention of significant events, people and places which you can then use to later run a Google search.

[Bryn Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting book about an ancient part of the world that gets ignored or vilified in the West. Read this book and you'll have a far greater understanding of the history and peoples of the region, as well as the impact of wars from the USA and the old USSR.

[Adrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was both a pleasure to read and a life changing inspiration. Released in spring 2002, one may be forgiven for thinking this was no coincidence, and marketed in the wake of 911, however it is no such work.
The Carpet Wars chronicles 10 years of the authors travels in Central Asia and his collecting of carpets, and how each carpet tells a story.
This is most definitely not the latest Daily Mail or Daily Express column exposing some shocking practice of Shariah Law, rather it is a heartfelt, human recollection of the lives of people in the Middle East and Central Asia.
The Carpet Wars contains no trace of cultural superiority whatsoever, there is no agenda being pushed, the only agenda the author has is to relate to the people on the ground. One gets a feeling for both the trauma afflicted upon the countries chronicled, and a feeling for the way of life in this part of the world.
Particular stand out chapters are Tajikistan, Kashmir and Afghanistan, but the book as a whole is a total gem.
The Carpet Wars will both inform you on the life, history and politics of the Middle East and Central Asia, but it will also capture you on emotional level, as you not only hear the stories of the people the author encounters, but you live their lives as well.
I received this for my 21st birthday in May 2002, and it still has pride of place on my bookshelf, however, I liked it so much I bought the Kindle edition as soon as it was released, and this excellent piece of travel writing will now be a travel companion.
Every carpet tells a story. This is a story that demands to be told.

[Andy Hickman · Rating 5 out of 5]

“THE CARPET WARS: A JOURNEY ACROSS THE ISLAMIC HEARTLANDS” by Christopher Kremmer

Profound insight into a whole world and epoch that most of the Western culture are oblivious to. May well be the most important definitive historical recording of that place on that time.
The audiobook is read by the author and captures the emotional intensity and humour of his experiences.

“Afghanistan has always been a curious mixture of medieval custom and bold stabs at reform.”

“... piercing eyes of jade wearing a tattered dirt red scarf, a haunting image, a face of a child that seems both traumatised and indignant, her eyes warn and challenge and resent.”

The first woman poet to compose in both Arabic and Persian: After being attacked and her wrists slit, leaving her to bleed to death, Afghani women Rābi'a Balkhī (رابعه بلخی) wrote her last love poem (910 A.D.) in blood on the wall as she died:

I am captured by your love
trying to escape is not possible
love is an ocean without boundaries
a wise person would not want to swim in it
if you want love until the end
you must accept what is not accepted
welcome hardship with joy
eat poison but call it honey
..

“Planters vie with planners to outnumber buildings with trees. Attracting nightingales, blackbirds and orioles is considered as important as attracting people. Maples line the canals, reaching towards each other with branches linked. Beneath them, people meander, stroll and promenade...” (p378)
 

[Sally Edsall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christopher Kremmer's book takes you on a journey through the Central Asian countries most frequently in the news today, and provides an incomparable insight. The largest, and first, section, is an account of events in Afghanistan, which he has witnessed first-hand as a foreign correspondent.

This book is no dry history, nor is it merely a travelogue, nor is it merely an extended piece of journalism.

Kremmer comes to know and befriend people of different backgrounds within the region, and it is their stories, as well as the carpet trade and stories of emblematic carpets, through which the narrative is woven. We care about the future of the peoples of the region, because we care about what becomes of Kremmer's friends.

What Christopher has managed to do is to make the internecine politics, the inhumanities, the brutalities, comprehensible, through his humanisation of peoples who might in lesser hands be reduced to the merely 'exotic' or even worse 'unknowable and inhuman'.

Earlier this year I read 'Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan' by Jason Elliot.
I thoroughly recommend both these books if you desire to reach some understanding of a region of such importance to us all.

[Matt Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Starts slow but develops well. Interweaves travelogue, journalism, history and politics effortlessly. Manages to give a history of carpet weaving which informs the geo political history presented simultaneously and vice versa. Also deeply personal and intimately revealing of the lives of everyday middle easterners prior to 911. Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, India, Iraq, Kashmir and Tajikistan all brought to life, at least for me. If you are interested in any of these places, definately worth reading.

[Harry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meandering, intriguing and slightly sorrowful, Kremmer's tour of the 'Carpet Heartlands' of the Middle East and Inner Asia is an impressive book. It manages to pack in detail without any of the dragging dullness which so often bogs down travelogues; the author's conceit of binding together the people he encounters with the colours and iconography of their rugs has the dual impact of helping us understand the people—whether they are elaborate and fanciful and extravagant or hard-edged and utilitarian and dour or somewhere in between, the colours and guls and designs of the titular carpets bring us into the world of the Pashtuns and Afghans and Kuchis and Kashmiris that Kremmer encounters on his journeys... and of helping us to understand the suffering and misery imposed on the war-torn part of the world which Kremmer traverses. Everywhere he goes, Kremmer looks at rugs, and everywhere he goes he sees the same trend: the rugs are cheaper, made more poorly, and less proud than they used to be. This sense builds, slowly and gently but inevitably, over the course of his journeys; desperation writ in wool and silk. The afterword, slipped in after the events of 9/11, comes like a punch in the gut.

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fascinating, frustrating read.

Reading this book in 2025 provides an irritating window into the limits of perspective an ostensibly "open minded" journo during the beginning of the USA's global war on terror could be. He has the most basic sense of decorum and humanity, I will give him that.

This book is rife with orientalism clap trap where the author ogles the bosoms, and hips of Iraqi women, and describes Afghan children in a leering coquettish fashion.

The mocking, phonetic accents he uses to depict those he interviews is a funny insight into how little respect he held for those who so warmly welcomed him.

This pervades the entire book. It smacks of a westerner on Safari able to judge the natives, and report back to his homeland that the savages don't all deserve to be bombed.

To visit Iraq under sanctions, and to not mention the hundreds of thousands dead there. To write hundreds of pages about the taliban and to dedicate what - like 20 words? Into how they were created by the USA.

In his 2007 post script, he boo hoos that he has been mistakenly described as "anti American." In retrospect, I wager his soul wishes he was more than the milqtoast version of what was "anti American" constituted in those dark days.

[Vincent Huang · Rating 5 out of 5]

The brunt of the war ultimately lies upon the general populace at the end of the day.

Throughout the exploration of the middle east, the author attempts to answer the human side of this conflict: how regular lives are stretched and crushed underneath global forces beyond their control.

It's an optimistic view, meant to highlight the tenacity of the human spirit as refugees and humanitarians struggle to make the most out of their situations. Even though facts and statistics are offered throughout the work, they merely serve as a frame of reference to how these participants react to these trying coniditons.

It is an incomplete snapshot of the complex geopolitical situation that culminated into complete unmitigable disaster, yet maybe personal stories are the only way for any of us in this modern world to give a damn. As the modern world moves towards shorter attention spans and more instant news, we need to constantly create compelling narratives for the international spotlight to stay onto a topic.

[V · Rating 4 out of 5]

A different way to travel write.

This book is written by a journalist in this area of the Middle East. Ostensibly about his collection of rugs (or parts thereof) but really an interesting read of the areas in conflict in the years before 9/11. This is a very troubled part of the world and the author shows very little judgement of its people and their motives for doing what they do. Just explaining what is happening in a very matter of fact way. You find yourself jumping from country to country with a few tales of carpets purchases thrown in.

If you have ever wanted to read an unbiased version of what was happening at this time in this area (Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan etc), before the war with the USA and its allies wandered in, then this is the book for you.

[Larissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This is not the type of book I would normally pick up, however, I received it as a gift along with a carpet (clever!) so I gave it a go. For me it was a tough read about war-torn countries – something I’m not sure I’ve ever read about before. The author did a good job of taking us through the different regions but at times it seemed a bit jumbled. It was certainly eye opening and I liked the descriptions of the carpets. He included photographs of people and some carpets but I found myself wishing he had more photos or drawings of the carpet designs themselves. Although described well, an illustration would have gone a long way.

[Felicity J · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book takes you on a carpet ride to the carpet's origins. To strange arcane places with ancient pasts and troubled presents. On the way, you meet interesting people who have much the same life goals you or I have and others who are downright characters. All the while you are wondering at the journey you are on with the author. From the way he writes, you picture him at first as a middle aged man with a well developed beard, but no from the picture in the back of the book, he seems like a young guy. This is a good book for when you need to be shaken from your everyday.

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book!!! One of those gems that can only arise from a true local understanding of the people in the place one is writing about. The author surprised me with his depth of knowledge, not only about present-day culture, but also about the nuanced pasts of the complicated places that he visits. I also love his tone of writing and the subtle humor that balances the weightiness that comes with war zones and suffering. I also love his ability to describe the people he meets in a way that makes you feel like you really got to know them. One of my favorite travel memoirs, for sure!

[Milele · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really enjoyable book to read while filling in many holes in my knowledge of the recent political history of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran etc. I was surprised at how effectively it straddled the line between vignette and longer story. As vignettes, I could read a chapter before bed and happily stop. As an arc, I felt that the later chapters not only followed up on political events of earlier chapters, but also reflected the author's greater experience, exhaustion and fatalism.

[Anindya Biswas · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the Taliban takes Afghanistan back a few centuries, it's interesting to read Carpet Wars and understand Afghanistan and it's links to the rest of Central Asia - through trade, as a pawn in the hands of other powers, and under the Taliban.

However, I enjoyed the description of Eshfahan the most - it's like finding water after walking through the desert. The author's narrative skills are brilliant and it doesn't go into the overload of facts as most of such non-fiction tends to do.

[Rita · Rating 3 out of 5]

2002
An easy way to get some background on Afghanistan, Kashmir, Iran. Bits of history interspersed with contemporary situation interspersed with talks and friendships with local carpet sellers.
The book was borrowed from Rosemary.
Learning about carpets and their [symbolic and other] importance in these cultures was a treat in itself.

As another goodreader pointed out, we can conclude that current politics in this region have a long history and there is nothing new under the sun here.

Kremmer is good about enjoying his friendships with the men who sell carpets, while not condoning some of their objectionable traits and customs.

LADAKH was mentioned. Interesting comment on diversity being an advantage to India, and so contrasting to the rigid uniformity desired by Muslim fundamentalists:

304:
"Slow to stir, the Indian Army behemoth was beginning to lumber with the slow but orderly transport of troops, weapons, and hundreds of truckloads of pack mules from the Valley to the Brigade and Division Hdqts in LADAKH. For long stretches the road was flanked by truck lots, tented billets, ammunition dumps, camps for inducted personnel undergoing orientation, and field hospitals, Amid the ringing of bells and lighting of oil lamps, tented Hindu temples served a constant torrent of troops praying on their way in, or giving thanks on their way out. Armed priests dressed in camouflage tied holy strings on the wrists of their fellow soldiers, and blessed their guns by applying red tikka to the barrels. They saw themselves as incarnations of Arjuna at the battle of Kurukshetra, on the eve of which Lord Krishna counselled the reluctant warrior on his moral duty to take up arms against his family's enemies. Unlike their Muslim opponents in the mtns above, the Indian troops belonged to many faiths, and apart from mandirs, the tent cities boasted gurdwaras for Sikhs, chapels for Christians, and temples for Zoroastrians. Yet far from being a weakness, the diversity in the Indian ranks was a strength. There was no point having Maratha and Jats in the same unit if they couldn't speak the same language or drink from the same cup, so units were organised along ethnic, regional, religious and even caste lines, and competed to be the best. Vast and unwieldy, yet committed to its democratic secular Constitution, India squatted like a multicultural elephant, blocking the path to uniformity so fervently desired by Islam's new Saladins.

[Travis Kendall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very well researched and well written journey through the Islamic world in the dozen or so years prior to 9/11. Through telling the stories of his own quite amazing adventures, Kremmer does a wonderful of weaving (forgive the choice of word) the politics, war, religion, and history along with with incredible stories of the local people into an extremely compelling narriative. Some of this book is a little bit dated and some of the stories (where Bin Laden came from etc.) you probably have heard many times on CNN but should not take away from what is a very powerful work. Kremmer is that rare breed of adventurer who inspires people to see and experience the world. Don't be surprised if this book makes you want to grab a backpack and go explore the world.

[Maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty rambling, unfocused and doesn't talk much about carpets after all. Want to know what a warp vs a weave is? Learn about different patterns and what they mean? Not sure why you knot carpets and what that means? Interested in child labour issues? This book will not help you. Want some insight into the politics of the middle east, 1990-2000, and the effect on everyday carpet sellers? This book delivers!

Very readable, a good intro to why Afghanistan is a mess (and a sadly optimistic ending, in 2001 - if you only knew, dude from 13 years ago!), made me want to visit Esfahan, Iran.

[Matt Brant]

In this fascinating book, the Australian journalist gives brief histories of the regions and cultures of Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, and India with a special accent on the history of carpets. Kremmer is not quite a tourist because he gets to know people, but he is not an expatriate either because he is always on the move. We get in-depth portraits of his friends, a rug merchant of Kabul and a Hazara student that he helps, as well as the slave driver Massoud who exploits child weavers.

[Kathleen McRae · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book.It certainly was a journey through Afghanistan's history and a few other countries in that vicinity. I loved some of the rug information although you would have to have some previous knowledge about rug making and in particular tribal rug making to understand it all He gives some basic info but it is certainly not a primer.He discusses some of the horrors that have taken place in Afghanistan with a bit of detachment.it was a bit of an odd read but I still liked it.

[Tegan Mahoney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was given a copy by a friend many years back. The title instantly turned me off, having me imagine it was something related to carpets (how naive of me!). Instead it was a beautifully told history of Afghanistan that was linked to the lives of every day carpet traders and makers who have conducted business in Afghanistan for hundreds of years. Given that this was written prior to the US led invasion, an updated version might be an interesting read. Highly recommend!

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad but so bloody depressing on several levels. I live an easy life in an easy country where people are more concerned about cholesterol than bombs, although that may change. Carpets often made in appalling conditions, in countries where life can be cut short with little warning and who knows where the next meal is coming from. Trading is a funny business with so many middle men selling stories and ideas as much as the actual tangible items.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I admit to a guilty love of Persian carpets, so this exploration of Central Asia through the lens of the carpet makers and sellers was bound to appeal to me. It is somehow easier to see the larger picture by focusing on this single thread, as it were. Preachy histories with larger agendas abound after 9/11, but this work is honest and enchanting.