Around the World in 80 Books discussion

Post any books set in Afghanistan here.

Books set in Afghanistan:


The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The Dressmaker of Khair Khana by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
The Bookseller of Kabul by Åsne Seierstad
The Places In Between by Rory Stewart
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil
The Swallows Of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra
The Patience Stone by Atiq Rahimi
The Storyteller's Daughter: One Woman's Return to Her Lost Homeland
A Bed of Red Flowers: In Search of My Afghanistan by Nelofer Pazira
The Other Side of the Sky: A Memoir by Farah Ahmedi
The Wasted Vigil by Nadeem Aslam
Earth and Ashes by Atiq Rahimi
Stones into Schools by Greg Mortenson
The Thousand Rooms of Dreams and Fear by Atiq Rahimi
Ghost Wars by Steve Coll
Caravans: A Novel of Afghanistan by James A Michener
A Cup of Friendship by Deborah Rodriguez
The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis
Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton
The Forever War by Dexter Filkins
An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan by Jason Elliot
Born Under a Million Shadows by Andrea Busfield
A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush by Eric Newby
Parvana's Journey by Deborah Ellis
The Afghan Campaign by Steven Pressfield
Farishta by Patricia McArdle
Mulberry Empire by Philip Hensher
Kabul by M.E. Hirsh
Shooting Kabul by N.H. Senzai
The Sewing Circles of Herat: My Afghan Years by Christina Lamb
The End of Manners: A Novel by Francesca Marciano
The Punishment of Virtue: Inside Afghanistan After the Taliban by Sarah Chayes
Lie Down With Lions by Ken Follett
A Woman Among Warlords by Malalai Joya
My Forbidden Face: Growing Up Under the Taliban - A Young Woman's Story
My Life with the Taliban by Abdul Salam Zaeef
Samira and Samir by Siba Shakib
The Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor
Flashman by George MacDonald Fraser
Mud City by Deborah Ellis
Opium Season: A Year on the Afghan Frontier by Joel Hafvenstein
Words in the Dust by Trent Reedy
Zoya's Story: An Afghan Woman's Struggle for Freedom by Zoya
Meena by Melody Ermachild Chavis
Under the Persimmon Tree by Suzanne Fisher Staples
Afganistan, Where God Only Comes to Weep by Siba Shakib
Kabul in Winter: Life Without Peace in Afghanistan by Ann Jones
The Man Who Would Be King: The First American in Afghanistan
Come Back to Afghanistan: My Journey from California to Kabul
Real Men Keep Their Word: Tales from Kabul, Afghanistan by Akram Osman
Over the Edge by Suzanne Brockmann
Flashpoint by Suzanne Brockmann
Because of the Brave by Z.A. Maxfield
In the Face of Jinn: A Novel by Cheryl Howard Crew
Legacy Of Love by Joanna Trollope
A Nightmare's Prayer: A Marine Harrier Pilot's War in Afghanistan
Afghan Guerrilla Warfare: In the Words of the Mujahideen Fighters
Afghanistan The Bear Trap: The Defeat of a Superpower by Mohammed Yousaf
Dressed to Kill by Charlotte Madison
Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing by Marcus Luttrell
The Wandering Falcon by Jamil Ahmad

I have edited and added to a Listopia list of books set in Afghanistan here: Afghanistan in Literature. I added books from this thread plus other suggestions and recommendations found elsewhere on Good Reads and the Internet. Feel free to vote for your favorites and/or add books that I missed!

More from Afghanistan:


The Photographer by Emmanuel Guibert
In the Graveyard of Empires: America's War in Afghanistan by Seth G. Jones
The Khaarijee: A Chronicle of Friendship and War in Kabul by J. Malcolm Garcia
Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer
The Warlord's Son by Dan Fesperman
Under a Sickle Moon: A Journey Through Afghanistan by Peregrine Hodson

The Taliban Cricket Club by Timeri N. Murari

War by Sebastian Junger

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The Road to Oxiana by Robert Byron
Afghan Caravan by Safia Shah

Zen Under Fire: a story of love and war in Afghanistan by Marianne Elliott

Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the Fall of the Taliban by Stephen Tanner

Great overview of the tumultuous history of this country.

.


Sikander by M. Salahuddin Khan
Shadow by Michael Morpurgo
Wanting Mor by Rukhsana Khan
No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden
In My Father's Country by Saima Wahab
West of Kabul, East of New York: An Afghan American Story by Tamim Ansary (immigrant experience in US)
Chicken Street by Amanda Sthers
Prisoners of Hope: The Story of Our Captivity and Freedom in Afghanistan
Lipstick in Afghanistan by Roberta Gately
Veiled Freedom by Jeanette Windle
Dining with al-Qaeda: Three Decades Exploring the Many Worlds of the Middle East
Zombiestan by Mainak Dhar
The Interpreter by Shah Wali Fazli
Beneath The Pale Blue Burqa by Kay Danes
The Only Thing Worth Dying For: How Eleven Green Berets Forged a New Afghanistan
Refuge by N.G. Osborne

Songs of Love and War: Afghan Women's Poetry by Sayd Bahodine Majrouh

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

The Blind Man's Garden by Nadeem Aslam

The Widow's Husband by Mir Tamim Ansary

The Vanishing of Ruth by Janet MacLeod Trotter (also India)

The Rugmaker of Mazar-e-Sharif by Najaf Mazari

Kara Kush by Idries Shah


Adventures in Afghanistan by Louis Palmer


My Life from Brigand To King-- Autobiography of Amir Habibullah


Storyteller's Daughter by Saira Shah


Modern Afghanistan by Ikbal Ali Shah


Afghanistan of the Afghans by Ikbal Ali Shah

The Horsemen by Joseph Kessel

An American Bride in Kabul by Phyllis Chesler

The Pearl That Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi

A Curse on Dostoevsky by Atiq Rahimi

A Fort of Nine Towers: An Afghan Family Story by Qais Akbar Omar

The Underground Girls of Kabul: In Search of a Hidden Resistance in Afghanistan by Jenny Nordberg

Green on Blue: A Novel by Elliot Ackerman

When the Moon is Low by Nadia Hashimi

A House Without Windows by Nadia Hashimi

An Afghan Immigrant: My Journey from Kabul to Paris to Texas by Ahmad Ansari

More books set in Afghanistan:


The Afghan by Frederick Forsyth
Agent 6 by Tom Rob Smith (3rd book in Leo Demidov series)
All the Roads Are Open: The Afghan Journey by Annemarie Schwarzenbach
Allure of Deceit by Susan Froetschel
Ashley's War: The Untold Story of a Team of Women Soldiers
Behind the Burqa by Batya Swift Yasgur
Bird of Chaman, Flower of the Khyber: Riding Shotgun from Karachi to Kabul
The Black Tulip: A Novel of War in Afghanistan by Milton Bearden
Black Widow, Volume 2: The Tightly Tangled Web by Nathan Edmondson
Bleeding Afghanistan by Sonali Kolhatkar
Blessings and Other Short Stories by Bina Shah
Blue Blood Mirage: On the Other Side of Illusion by Nasrat Esmaty
Blue is the Colour of Heaven by Richard Loseby
Bold Destiny by Jane Feather

More books set in Afghanistan:


The Afghan Amulet: Travels from the Hindu Kush to Razgrad by Sheila Paine
The Afghans: A Novella of Soviet Soldiers in Afghanistan by Vladimir Rybakov
The Anglo-Afghan Wars 1839–1919 by Gregory Fremont-Barnes
Buzkashi, Game and Power in Afghanistan by G. Whitney Azoy
Caged Bird: Stories from Safe House and Nadia Anjuman's Poems by Nadia Anjuman
Camel Bells by Janne Carlsson
Captive by Jere Van Dyk
Chaos in Kabul by Gérard de Villiers
City of Screams by James Rollins
Combat Camera: From Auntie Beeb to the Afghan Frontline by Christian Hill
The Corridor of Uncertainty: How Cricket Mended a Torn Nation by Nihar Suthar
The Darling of Kandahar by Felicia Mihali
Deadly Strain by Julie Rowe (1st book in Biological Response Team series)
Dear Zari: The Secret Lives of the Women of Afghanistan by Zarghuna Kargar
A Deniable Death by Gerald Seymour
Disappearing Into Flight by Asef Soltanzadeh
Dispatches from the Kabul Cafe by Heidi Kingstone
Drunk Chickens and Burnt Macaroni: Real Stories of Afghan Women
The Early Years of Peace Corps in Afghanistan: A Promising Time
Element by Mario Šoštar
Emerald Eyes Behind the Burqa by Fahim Khairy
Empire of the Heart by Jasmine Craig
Extra Credit by Andrew Clements
Extreme Measures by Vince Flynn (1st book in Mitch Rapp series)
The Far Pavillions by M.M. Kaye
The Favored Daughter by Fawzia Koofi
Fear of Beauty by Susan Froetschel
Fire For Effect by Kendall McKenna (2nd book in Recon Diaries series)
Follow Me Home by Patrick Bishop
For the Love of a Son: One Afghan Woman's Quest for Her Stolen Child
Forbidden Lessons in a Kabul Guesthouse by Suraya Sadeed
Freshta by Petra Procházková
Games Without Rules: The Often Interrupted History of Afghanistan by Tamim Ansary
Happy Things In Sorrow Times by Tehmina Durrani
Hearts for Sale!: A Buyer's Guide to Winning in Afghanistan by Farzana Marie
The Honey thief by Najaf Mazari
Horses of Heaven by Gillian Bradshaw
However Tall the Mountain: A Dream, Eight Girls, and a Journey Home by Awista Ayub
The Human Body by Paolo Giordano
I Am a Bacha Posh: My Life as a Woman Living as a Man in Afghanistan by Ukmina Manoori
I Am the Beggar of the World: Landays from Contemporary Afghanistan
I is for Infidel: From Holy War to Holy Terror in Afghanistan by Kathy Gannon
In My Father's Country: An Afghan Woman Defies Her Fate by Saima Wahab
In the Land of Blue Burqas by Kate McCord
In the Light of What We Know by Zia Haider Rahman
The Ink Bridge by Neil Grant
Into the Fire: A Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War
Irene At Large by Carole Nelson Douglas (3rd book in Irene Adler series)
Kabul by M.E. Hirsh
Kabul Girls Soccer Club: A Dream, Eight Girls, and a Journey Home by Awista Ayub
Kandahar Cockney by James Fergusson
Khost by Vincent Hobbes
Kids of Kabul: Living Bravely Through a Never-Ending War by Deborah Ellis
Kingdom of Ten Thousand Things: An Impossible Journey from Kabul to Chiapas
The Knife by Ross Ritchell
A Land Without Time: A Peace Corps Volunteer in Afghanistan by John Sumser
The Last Kestrel by Jill McGivering
Last Night Another Soldier by Andy McNab
The Leopard and the Cliff by Wallace Breem
Lessons of Love in Afghanistan: A Lifelong Commitment to the Afghan People
Letters to my Daughters by Fawzia Koofi
Letters to War and Lethe by Farzana Marie
Life During Wartime by Lucius Shepard
The Light Garden of the Angel King: Travels in Afghanistan with Bruce Chatwin
Lions of Kandahar: The Story of a Fight Against All Odds
The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul by Deborah Rodriguez
Little Women of Baghlan: The Story of a Nursing School for Girls in Afghanistan
Load Poems Like Guns: Women's Poetry from Herat, Afghanistan
Looking for the Afghan by Richard Loseby
Lost Decency, the Untold Afghan Story by Atta Arghandiwal
The Lost Valley Of Iskander by Robert E. Howard
The Lotus and the Wind by John Masters
Mahboba's Promise: How One Woman Made a World of Difference by Mahboba Rawi
Mahtab's Story by Libby Gleeson
Making Friends Among the Taliban: A Peacemaker's Journey in Afghanistan
Making Soapies in Kabul by Trudi-Ann Tierney
The Man Who Would Be King by Rudyard Kipling
The Minaret of Djam: An Excursion in Afghanistan by Freya Stark
Mirrors and Songs by Shahbaz Ehsani
The Moonlit Cage by Linda Holeman
Mule Train by Huw Francis
My War at Home by Masuda Sultan

More books set in Afghanistan:


Gathering Strength: Conversations with Afghan Women by Peggy Kelsey
The Lightless Sky by Gulwali Passarlay
A Night in the Emperor's Garden by Qais Akbar Omar
No Easy Task: Fighting in Afghanistan by Bernd Horn
No Good Men Among the Living by Anand Gopal
No More Mulberries by Mary Smith
On the Road to Kandahar: Travels through conflict in the Islamic world
One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer by Nathaniel Fick
One Dog at a Time: Saving the Strays of Helmand by Pen Farthing
One Half from the East by Nadia Hashimi
One Story, Thirty Stories: An Anthology of Contemporary Afghan American Literature
Opium Nation by Fariba Nawa
Our Woman In Kabul by Irris Makler
Outlaw Platoon: Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan
Over the Rainbow by Paul Pickering
The Pair of Purple Shoes by Mina Qarabaghi
Pink Mist by Owen Sheers
Quatrains of Khalilullah Khalili by Khalilullah Khalili
Rahman Baba: Selected Poems by Rahman Baba
Razia's Ray of Hope: One Girl's Dream of an Education by Elizabeth Suneby
Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan by William Dalrymple
Return to Kabul: An Afghan American's Odyssey in Afghanistan by Abdullah Sharif
Return to the Little Coffee Shop of Kabul by Deborah Rodriguez
Risiko by Steffen Kopetzky
The Road to Kandahar by John Wilcox
Searching for Saleem: An Afghan Woman's Odyssey by Farooka Gauhari
A Second Legacy by Caroline Harvey
The Secret Sky by Atia Abawi
The Shadow Patrol by Alex Berenson
Shakespeare in Kabul by Qais Akbar Omar
Shoot Like a Girl: One Woman's Dramatic Fight in Afghanistan and on the Home Front
The Silenced Cry: One Woman's Diary of a Journey to Afghanistan
Silent Hearts by Gwen Florio
Silent Trees: A Novel of Afghanistan by Nasir Shansab
Silk and Secrets by Mary Jo Putney
The Sky Is a Nest of Swallows: A Collection of Poems and Essays by Afghan Women Writers
The Sleeping Buddha: The Story of Afghanistan Through the Eyes of One Family
Soldiers of God: With Islamic Warriors in Afghanistan and Pakistan
Son of the White Wolf by Robert E. Howard
Stinger by Diana R. Chambers
The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan by Kim Barker
Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia
Tanner's Virgin by Lawrence Block
Tears from Kabul by Michael P. Buckley
Three by Atiq Rahimi: Earth and Ashes, A Thousand Rooms of Dream and Fear, The Patience Stone
Three Women of Herat: A Memoir of Life, Love and Friendship in Afghanistan
Thunder Over Kandahar by Sharon E. McKay
Torn by David Massey
Under an Afghan Sky: A Memoir of Captivity by Mellissa Fung
Under the Almond Tree by Laura McVeigh
Unholy Wars: Afghanistan, America and International Terrorism
Unveiled: Voices of Women in Afghanistan by Harriet Logan
Veiled Courage: Inside the Afghan Women's Resistance by Cheryl Benard
Waiting for the Taliban: A Journey Through North Afghanistan by Anna Badkhen
War Dogs by Shane Bryant
The Wars of Afghanistan: Messianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflicts, and the Failures of Great Powers
The Watch by Joydeep Roy-Bhattacharya
We Are Afghan Women: Voices of Hope
We Are Now Beginning Our Descent by James Meek
What Changes Everything by Masha Hamilton
What Comes With The Dust: Goes With the Wind by Gharbi M. Mustafa
What the Thunder Said: Reflections of a Canadian Officer in Kandahar
When the Birds Fly South by Stanton A. Coblentz
Willow Trees Don't Weep by Fadia Faqir
Winter in Kandahar by Ana M. Briongos Guadayol
Winter in Kandahar by Steven E. Wilson (1st book in the Stone Waverly Trilogy)
Women for Afghan Women: Shattering Myths and Claiming the Future
The World is a Carpet: Four Seasons in an Afghan Village by Anna Badkhen
The Wounding Time by Hussein Osman
Wynne's War by Aaron Gwyn
Zinky Boys: Soviet Voices from the Afghanistan War by Svetlana Alexievich

Afghanistan: Travels With The Mujahideen by Sandy Gall

From Indus to Oxus: A Memoir: Experiences, Observations and Travels in the Melting Pot of History by Zaid Hamid

Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie
Partly set in Afghanistan.

I didn't see this one on the Bookshelf:
The King's Shadow: Obsession, Betrayal, and the Deadly Quest for the Lost City of Alexandria by Edmund Richardson

y'all also missed The Haunting of Hajji Hotak

The Opium Prince