This book was written by a friend, Nelofer Pazira. It’s a great read – it’s a semi-autobiographical account of her life growing up in Afghanistan under the Communist/Russian regimes, the civil war, the Mujahudeen, the Taliban, – it’s not so much a historical reference, but rather an account from her view, of the hardships and tribulations that her family endured. It is vividly written and kept me interested the entire way – I wish this book had been available before I had gone out to Afghanistan to work. It gives great insights into the mindset there. If you haven’t seen the movie Kandahar yet either, I recommend that too – Nelofer is in it and the story is based on one of the threads in the book.