Welcome to Afghanistan by Jay Buckner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The author is a Virginia based play writer who worked as the Director of US Aided Project to an Agricultural Trade Fair in Heart city of Afghanistan.
The book is a narration of his personal experience in encountering the various problems he faced after he took over the charge of organizing an Agricultural Fair in war-borne Afghanistan. Though the narration has many interesting facts of the country with respect to its culture and way of living, most of the pages do not carry the juice to turn the pages interestingly. One would definitely applaud his will power and boldness to carry out such a project in a country which was so dangerous to even step out alone without security guards beside you. The bureaucracy of the ruling Government and corruption has been cleverly exposed. Interesting facts about historic monuments of Heart city like the Citadel of Heart built by Alexander the Great, famous minarets, Gazar Gah Shrine and Friday Mosque. The importance of Nepali Gurkhas in Afghan army as security guards is also well elicited.

Pros: One can get an idea of some of the best and interesting facts about the people of Afghanistan and their efficiency in whatever work they take up. If it was not for the continuous wars, the country would have become one of the thriving economies of the world due to its skilled manpower and abundant natural mineral resources. The lavish food and hospitality of Afghanistan is once again brought forward in this book.

Cons: The book is quite boring sometimes, particularly when the author was discussing the modus operandi of his project work.

My favorite quotes in the book

“Manipulation and intimidation for personal gain are no strangers in the makeup of ambitious, powerful individuals”

My rating is 3 out of 5


View all my reviews