Can anybody recommend several good books on Afghan culture, history, religion, politics, military history, etc?  I might be taking a trip over there in the near future, and I would appreciate a better understanding of the people and the country as a whole.

The Great Game by Peter Hopkirk. Lots of great insight on the wonderful place that is Afcrapohstan.


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Afghanistan Revealed or pretty much any book from Ahmed Rashid.

This topic always came up before our mobilizations. I tried, I mean I really tried. I read everything I could find and all the shit the Army gave me too. Then when I got to Afghanistan I was put in places that were never covered in the books with tribes I'd never heard of and a language I hadnt practiced. Both times. Every once in a while something would click and it was useful and even then I found the locals didnt know their own history. It wasnt worth the time I'd spent reading.

If you know EXACTLY where you're going and EXACTLY who you will be working for/with you might be able to apply some of what you can find. Other than that your efforts will be better spent getting in contact with people there NOW or very recently. Other than that study the major regional languages rather than history.

The country as a whole is a fucking nightmare to try and pin down with generalities and universal knowledge.

This book isn't too bad if you can get past the endless George W. Bush bashing.

I really liked the book, "Afghanistan", by Steven Tanner ( I think).  It covers the country from ancient times, up until 2006 or so.  It will make you realize that no one is going to change things there.  I read the book three times in my two years there and learned something new each time.

+1.  This is a must-read!

New member here. Been to AF twice and I've been studying the languages and culture for the better part of 6 years now. "The other side of the mountain" is chock full of vignettes of mujahedin combat tactics, both good and bad. Now, they are vignettes from the soviet war but aside from IEDs, they still fight about the same. Its a really good resource for any Joe. Its a dry read but it gives you an idea of what to expect combat-wise. Just keep in mind the IEDs lol, they add a whole 'nother dimension. That and the USMC's country studies handbook are both good. Don't get to hung up on history, though while it helps to know it, like someone else said, half of the afghans don't know their own history. They got more shit to worry about than the Durrand accord.

Other than that, I can't stress language enough. A couple fluent sounding sentences go a long way, but being able to understand somebody somewhat and give a broken but intelligible response goes a lot further. I got semi decent at pashto my last trip to Kandahar. By the end of deployment, the village elders were talking to me, a lowly early-20's SGT, instead of our late-30's PL (prior enlisted). They assumed I was the "commander" because they thought I was "educated." I owe it all to my pashto. I even had guys that I knew were Taliban smiling ear-to-ear when I spoke to them in their native tongue. There are tons of Farsi books out there, but not as many pashto. Even still, find audio CDs to go with your books so you can get the pronunciation down. If you go to DLIs website they have tons of resources, but prepare to be forced to learn the alphabet or you won't get very far. If you have any questions about learning pashto or Farsi, lmk. My pashto is really rusty but my Farsi still works.

Looking back on my trip thru there the best language to learn is Pakistani to deal with the TCNs and most of my reading was the 2012 edition of the UCMJ.  Went from the far north of MEZ down to the Horn in the south. Little interaction by air or riding in a Maxpro.

"Into The Land of Bones," by Frank Holt. It explains a lot about Afghan culture and history, starting in antiquity. Good read.

Hit up your local TASC and get some of the handouts and guidebooks on the latest doctrine and theater specific training. There's a lot of good stuff hiding on the shelves at TASC.

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+2.  I've read it multiple times for my deployments