Willem Vogelsang studied ancient Indian and Iranian languages and cultures at Leiden University in The Netherlands. He is currently Executive Secretary of the Research School of Asian, African and Amerindian Studies at Leiden University and curator for Southwest and Central Asia for the National Museum of Ethnology, Leiden. He has worked at various excavations in Syria and Afghanistan, and travelled throughout Afghanistan as a freelance journalist reporting on the Soviet occupation.

"Vogelsang ... has produced a valuable overview of Afghan history and archaeology...[his] book reminds readers that Afghanistan's rich history and culture warrant far more attention than merely as a refuge for 'evil-doers,' and that its people deserve the interest and support of the West even when globalized conflicts are at stake." Choice

• List of Illustrations. Figures.List of Maps.Preface.Up and Down the Hindu Kush.The Peoples of Afghanistan.The Early Years.The Advent of the Indo-Iranian Speaking Peoples.Archaeology and the Indo-Iranians.Scythian Horsemen.Opening up to the West.The Greeks.Northern Rulers.The Reassertion of the Iranian West.The Advent of Islam.The Iranian Dynasties.The Mongols.Towards the Kingdom of Afghanistan.The Sadozay Dynasty.War with Britain.The Dynasty of Amir 'Abd Al-Rahman Khan.Changing Afghanistan.The Years of Communism.After the Soviets.Epilogue.Bibliography.Index