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Farah Ahmedi's "poignant tale of survival" ("Chicago Tribune")
chronicles her journey from war to peace. Equal parts tragedy and
hope, determination and daring, Ahmedi's memoir delivers a
remarkably vivid portrait of her girlhood in Kabul, where the sound
of gunfire and the sight of falling bombs shaped her life and stole
her family. She herself narrowly escapes death when she steps on a
land mine. Eventually the war forces her to flee, first over the
mountains to refugee camps across the border, and finally to
America. Ahmedi proves that even in the direst circumstances, not
only can the human heart endure, it can thrive. "The Other Side of
the Sky" is "a remarkable journey" ("Chicago Sun-Times"), and Farah
Ahmedi inspires us all.
The history of modern Afghanistan is an epic drama, a thriller, a
tragedy, a surreal farce. Every forty years or so, over the last
two centuries, some great global power has attempted to take
control of Afghanistan, only to slink away wounded and bewildered.
Games without Rules recounts this strange story, not from the
outside looking in, as is usually the case, but from the inside
looking out. Here, the interventions and invasions by foreign
powers are not the main event. They are interruptions of the main
event, for Afghans have a story of their own, quite apart from all
the invasions (a story often interrupted by invasions!) Drawing on
his Afghan background, Muslim roots, and Western and Afghan
sources, Tamim Ansary weaves an epic story that moves from a
universe of village republics,the old Afghanistan,through a
tumultuous drama of tribes, factions, and forces, to the current
struggle. The drama involves a dazzling array of colourful
characters,such as the towering warrior-poet Ahmad Shah, who
founded the country the wily spider-king Dost Mohammed the Great,
who told the British I am like a wooden spoon you can toss me
about, but I will not be broken" and the late nineteenth-century
Iron Amir," who said a telescope would interest him only if it
could shoot bullets, since what use had he for the moon? A
compelling narrative told in an accessible, conversational style,
Games without Rules offers revelatory insight into a country long
at the centre of international debate, but never fully understood
by the outside world.
The Western narrative of world history largely omits a whole
civilization. Destiny Disrupted tells the history of the world from
the Islamic point of view, and restores the centrality of the
Muslim perspective, ignored for a thousand years. In Destiny
Disrupted, Tamim Ansary tells the rich story of world history as it
looks from a new perspective: with the evolution of the Muslim
community at the center. His story moves from the lifetime of
Mohammed through a succession of far-flung empires, to the tangle
of modern conflicts that culminated in the events of 9/11. He
introduces the key people, events, ideas, legends, religious
disputes, and turning points of world history, imparting not only
what happened but how it is understood from the Muslim perspective.
He clarifies why two great civilizations-Western and Muslim-grew up
oblivious to each other, what happened when they intersected, and
how the Islamic world was affected by its slow recognition that
Europe-a place it long perceived as primitive-had somehow hijacked
destiny. With storytelling brio, humor, and evenhanded sympathy to
all sides of the story, Ansary illuminates a fascinating parallel
to the world narrative usually heard in the West. Destiny Disrupted
offers a vital perspective on world conflicts many now find so
puzzling.
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Sinking the Ark (Paperback)
Tamim Ansary; Contributions by Justin Donica
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R499
R433
Discovery Miles 4 330
Save R66 (13%)
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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