Ahmed Rashid is a Pakistani journalist who reports for the BBC Online, The New York Times, The Financial Times, The New York Review of Books, Spain’s El Mundo and newspapers in Pakistan. He broadcasts regularly with the BBC, CNN and other international news organisations. He has twice been selected for the list of 'Top 100 Global Thinkers' by Foreign Policy. He has been covering the wars in Afghanistan, as well as the wars in Pakistan and Tajikistan, since 1979. He is the author of Descent into Chaos and Jihad.

[Rashid is] Pakistan’s best and bravest reporter.

• Preface and Introduction to the Third EditionPreface and AcknowledgementsMapsIntroduction: Afghanistan's Holy Warriors Part 1: History of the Taliban Movement Chapter 1 Kandahar 1994: The Origins of the TalibanChapter 2 Herat 1995: God’s Invincible SoldiersChapter 3 Kabul 1996: Commander of the FaithfulChapter 4 Mazar-e-Sharif 1997: Massacre in the NorthChapter 5 Bamiyan 1998–99: The Never-Ending WarPart 2: Islam and the TalibanChapter 6 Challenging Islam: The New-Style Fundamentalism of the TalibanChapter 7 Secret Society: The Taliban’s Political and Military OrganizationChapter 8 A Vanished Gender: Women, Children and Taliban CultureChapter 9 High on Heroin: Drugs and the Taliban EconomyChapter 10 Global Jihad: The Arab-Afghans and Osama Bin LadenPart 3: The New Great GameChapter 11 Dictators and Oil Barons: The Taliban and Central Asia, Russia, Turkey and IsraelChapter 12 Romancing the Taliban 1: The Battle for Pipelines 1994–96Chapter 13 Romancing the Taliban 2: The Battle for Pipelines 1997–99 – The USA and the TalibanChapter 14 Master or Victim: Pakistan’s Afghan WarChapter 15 Shia Versus Sunni: Iran and Saudi ArabiaChapter 16 Conclusion: The Future of AfghanistanChapter 17 The Taliban Resurgent 2000–2009AppendicesNotes

Ahmed Rashid is a Pakistani journalist who reports for the BBC Online, The New York Times, The Financial Times, The New York Review of Books, Spain’s El Mundo and newspapers in Pakistan. He broadcasts regularly with the BBC, CNN and other international news organisations. He has twice been selected for the list of 'Top 100 Global Thinkers' by Foreign Policy. He has been covering the wars in Afghanistan, as well as the wars in Pakistan and Tajikistan, since 1979. He is the author of Descent into Chaos and Jihad.

[Rashid is] Pakistan’s best and bravest reporter.

• Preface and Introduction to the Third EditionPreface and AcknowledgementsMapsIntroduction: Afghanistan's Holy Warriors Part 1: History of the Taliban Movement Chapter 1 Kandahar 1994: The Origins of the TalibanChapter 2 Herat 1995: God’s Invincible SoldiersChapter 3 Kabul 1996: Commander of the FaithfulChapter 4 Mazar-e-Sharif 1997: Massacre in the NorthChapter 5 Bamiyan 1998–99: The Never-Ending WarPart 2: Islam and the TalibanChapter 6 Challenging Islam: The New-Style Fundamentalism of the TalibanChapter 7 Secret Society: The Taliban’s Political and Military OrganizationChapter 8 A Vanished Gender: Women, Children and Taliban CultureChapter 9 High on Heroin: Drugs and the Taliban EconomyChapter 10 Global Jihad: The Arab-Afghans and Osama Bin LadenPart 3: The New Great GameChapter 11 Dictators and Oil Barons: The Taliban and Central Asia, Russia, Turkey and IsraelChapter 12 Romancing the Taliban 1: The Battle for Pipelines 1994–96Chapter 13 Romancing the Taliban 2: The Battle for Pipelines 1997–99 – The USA and the TalibanChapter 14 Master or Victim: Pakistan’s Afghan WarChapter 15 Shia Versus Sunni: Iran and Saudi ArabiaChapter 16 Conclusion: The Future of AfghanistanChapter 17 The Taliban Resurgent 2000–2009AppendicesNotes