Reddit reviews Afghanistan: Graveyard of Empires: A New History of the Borderland

Aaaand some counter opinion

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/07/26/bury_the_graveyard


History is often half factual, half interpretive. People like to say that Alexander the Great, Ghengis Khan, the British, and the Russians / Soviets all got the snot knocked out of them by a bunch of unruly Afghan tribes, but reality is a little different.


Alexander's predecessors kept Afghanistan under control for a few hundred years after his death, the Mongols had little issue seizing and holding the region. When Ghengis Khan's predecessor Tamerlane launched an offensive into India to establish Muslim rule the Afghans went along with his little adventure.


And yes, the Afghans destroyed all but a single unit of the British Empire's invasion force in the mid-19th century, but shortly after the British sent another force in 1842 that defeated every force sent against it, and while the invasion was a failure, it was only in the context of keeping the Russian Empire out of Central Asia. They'd have that opportunity about 40 years later. And the Soviets? They basically had the place under control until Islamists in Pakistan inspired a new wave of revolutionaries, and the US started funneling in weaponry.


Or at least that's one interpretation. This really is an instance where you'll have to do some research and come to your own opinion because "Graveyard of Empires" is kind of a buzz word in itself.



Additional Reading:

http://www.amazon.com/Afghanistan-Graveyard-Empires-History-Borderland/dp/B0085SCZVG

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/28/opinion/28bergen.html?_r=0

http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/57411/milton-bearden/afghanistan-graveyard-of-empires

Angry Walter is also woefully ignorant of history.

Edit- if anyone is actually interested in learning about the Taliban and the history of Afghanistan so as to avoid gross oversimplifications like this meme, I suggest reading this and maybe this.