The American War in Afghanistan

A History 1st Edition

By: Carter Malkasian

Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross

The first authoritative history of American's longest war by one of the world's leading scholar-practitioners.

The American war in Afghanistan, which began in 2001, is now the longest armed conflict in the nation's history. It is currently winding down, and American troops are likely to leave soon - but only after a stay of nearly two decades.

In The American War in Afghanistan, Carter Malkasian provides the first comprehensive history of the entire conflict. Malkasian is both a leading academic authority on the subject and an experienced practitioner, having spent nearly two years working in the Afghan countryside and going on to serve as the senior advisor to General Joseph Dunford, the US military commander in Afghanistan and later the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. Drawing from a deep well of local knowledge, understanding of Pashto, and review of primary source documents, Malkasian moves through the war's multiple phases: the 2001 invasion and after; the light American footprint during the 2003 Iraq invasion; the resurgence of the Taliban in 2006, the Obama-era surge, and the various resets in strategy and force allocations that occurred from 2011 onward, culminating in the 2018-2020 peace talks. Malkasian lived through much of it, and draws from his own experiences to provide a unique vantage point on the war.

Today, the Taliban is the most powerful faction, and sees victory as probable. The ultimate outcome after America leaves is inherently unpredictable given the multitude of actors there, but one thing is sure: The war did not go as America had hoped. Although the al-Qa'eda leader Osama bin Laden was killed and no major attack on the American homeland was carried out after 2001, the United States was unable to end the violence or hand off the war to the Afghan authorities, which could not survive without US military backing. The American War in Afghanistan explains why the war had such a disappointing outcome.

Wise and all-encompassing, The American War in Afghanistan provides a truly vivid portrait of the conflict in all of its phases that will remain the authoritative account for years to come.

©2021 Carter Malkasian (P)2021 Recorded Books

Good accumulation of a long history

Mostly well-rounded account of the entire war, but lacks tactical detail and devoid of heroics by the many Americans and allies who fought and died. political leanings begin to show within the final chapters to where the author draws conclusions that disagree with his accumulated evidence.

Solid Work, thank you.

Seemed some details of key events were omitted but otherwise in astounding production. This will for sure become a central resource in reference to the particular conflict.

Very through, sometimes hard to follow

Covers everything but hard to keep all the details and parties together at times. Often too far in the weeds but an important story about the missed opportunities to end the war at multiple stages and the toll take on all involved, especially the Afghanistans.

A superb summary of the Afghan war

As said in the title to this review, this is a superb summary of the Afghan war. I should start my mentioning that I had the honor to serve alongside Carter in Garmser in 2010-2011. He is the smartest, most insightful, and empathetic person with whom I served. His ability to tell the story of the Afghan leaders who did most of the fighting and dying in the war is one of this book’s strongest points.

This is not military history, although specific battles are mentioned. It is political history. It focuses on human actors and activities. If you are looking for gritty accounts of the fighting, particularly from a U.S. military perspective, look elsewhere. If you want to understand the US involvement in Afghanistan, this is the book for you.

I particularly recommend it to veterans looking back on their experience as a means to understanding the big picture. For me, at least, this book helped salve some of the wounds done to an idealistic young patriot by the cynical reality of domestic politics, great power politics, and coming to terms with America’s vast expenditure of blood and treasure in the GWOT.

This book should also be required reading for all would-be military and political leaders. It provides excellent lessons in military and political leadership, without succumbing to partisanship or hero worshiping.

Solid History of the War

I like so many around the world, followed the conflict for more than two decades and was constantly questioning what was our purpose there; changing from pro, then against, and back again as the years went on. So, I’m grateful have it explained in such a clear and concise manner to help make sense of why the conflict kept the west in the fight and an Afghan nation in chaos and finally to the way the war ended in a defeat. Thank you for a solid historical account.