This is an amazing book. Quit reading the reviews and hit ONE CLICK! With World-War-III about to break out in the region, I wanted one book about Afghanistan that would tell me who is who, and what is really going on. Written in 1999 just as the Taliban seized power, this is the book. It's amazingly enlightening. Want to end the endless wars in Afghanistan? This book tells you how. Embargo the flow of foreign money into the country, money which is used to hire armies of people with no other work available to them. The Afghan people themselves are sick of war. Beautifully written, this book gives an insight into the people of Afghanistan you won't find anywhere else, a culture where a starving peasant will invite a stranger into their home to enjoy their last scrap of food. With or without the current war, this book is a joy to read, one of the finest examples ever of travel writing. I am so lucky to have stumbled across it in a bookstore!

Elliot provides an open-window to the joy of unplanned, uninhibited, exploratory travel. His traveling savvy is only matched by his ability to express his excitement and knowledge of this land in the shadows. He manages to incorporate history, current events, geography, sociology, politics, and religion into an entertaining prose that inspires the reader to look for other such books, so that the reader can expand his knowledge of this crossroads of the world. Even though Elliot shows an amorous relationship with the Northern Alliance, this book does not directly engage the current situation in Afghanistan. This bias toward one ethic group, in a country of multiple ethnicities, can be overlooked, since it seems to stem from his genuine concern and appreciation of the people he encountered and assisted him on his journey. This book is an engaging read for those of us with nomadic tendencies who like to travel, sleep and eat with the indigenous people.

This is the best book I've read in the last few years! I notice a few folks have the exact opposite view, and that just goes to show that there is no accounting for taste.

It's referred to as a travel book by many reviewers, but I found it far more personal than that . Many, if not most travel books, really have very little insight into the country they are about. Elliot is remarkable in that he speaks the language and is steeped in Muslim history and religion. He brings a great deal to what he observes.

He is obviously a risk-taker personality and hence one has the vicarious opportunity to experience things most of us would choose not to do on our own.

But the best part is his writing! He has a wonderful lyrical writing sensibility. His descriptions work for me, and I can really picture what he is seeing. That is often not the case with other writers.

If he never writes another book he can go to his grave knowing that he has written this one and that many people were touched by it!