Above the Din of War: Afghans Speak About Their Lives, Their Country, and Their Future―and Why America Should Listen

If there is any hope for Afghanistan, veteran journalist Peter Eichstaedt asserts, it is with its people.

After spending 2004 in Afghanistan working for the nonprofit Institute for War and Peace Reporting and helping build Afghanistan's first independent news agency, Eichstaedt returned to Kabul in 2010. Exposing himself to grave dangers, Eichstaedt crisscrossed the country to interview an astonishing array of Afghans. Readers find emotional commentary from a former warlord; blunt talk from a Taliban judge; harrowing stories of abuse from teen-age victims of self-immolation; the economic realities of poppy growers; bold and courageous talk from women parliamentarians; heart-rending stories of child suicide bombers; laments of a besieged video store owner; condemnation of the Western world by frightened mullahs; and explanations of ancient Afghanistan by desperate archaeologists.

Eichstaedt reveals the truth behind the calculated rhetoric of war, politics, and diplomacy, and suggests a path forward toward a sustainable future for Afghanistan and southern Asia.