Afghanistan's Foreign Affairs to the Mid-Twentieth Century: Relations With the USSR, Germany, and Britain

by Ludwig W. Adamec

Preface—Introduction —1. Afghanistan emerges from isolation —2. Amir Amanullah assumes power —3. Amanullah’s early reforms —4. Amanullah’s journey and defeat —5. Amir Habibullah, son of a Water Carrier —6. Nadir Shah effects national consolidation —7. On the eve of world war II —9. Beginning of a new era —Appendix —References —Index

324 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1974

Reviews

[Nelson DeWitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adamecs Afghanistan's Foreign Affairs to the Mid-Twentieth Century doesn't only excel at its mission of completing a comprehensive survey of the development of Afghanistan's foreign missions but also gives a great overview of domestic politics. Especially so in the period starting with Amanullahs European tour until Nadir Khans assassination. In fact this book does so well at explaining domestic politics alongside foreign I'd recommend it as an entry point to anyone wanting to learn about Afghan history from WW1 until the end of WW2.

Unfortunately I can't give Adamecs work 5 stars due to some issues with his writing style. I found that Adamec tends to repeat himself, first stating something in the wider body of a chapter before repeating it again, usually at the end of a section. My only other issue was that many individuals had similar or identical names. While they're often distinguishable due to separate titles, there were still times I felt maybe an honorific or some other mark could've helped me follow who was doing what without flipping back a page or two for clarification.