"Angelo Rasanayagam's magisterial work - the fruit of personal experience as well as years of scholarship - is the first major history of modern Afghanistan. It traces the country's development from the accession of Abdul Rahman Khan, the 'Iron Amir' in 1880, right up to the demise of the Taliban under US bombing over the winter of 2001, and the search for a new state structure in 2002. Of vital importance for understanding the country's current crisis,...