cover image Afghanistan: A Cultural History

Afghanistan: A Cultural History

St John Simpson. Interlink, $19.95 trade paper (160p) ISBN 978-1-56656-854-8

With this slight cultural sampler, Simpson, a senior curator for Iranian and Arabian pre-Islamic artifacts at the British Museum (The Begram Hoard), looks past the recent turmoil in Afghanistan to explore the rich history of the “Crossroads of Asia.” The book, using many impressive photographs from the British Museum, features important archeological finds illuminating pivotal economic, cultural, and political events of this mountainous land with its fertile area of the southeast, boasting a bounty of metals and minerals as well as a thriving opium cash crop. An army of archeologists from around the globe discovered priceless pottery and other daily objects, graves, coins, and sculpture from ancient societies throughout Afghanistan, from the Achaemenid age to the years of Alexander the Great and the Islamic dynasties in medieval times. Unfortunately, the text is as lifeless as a senior high school history book even as it tackles the creation of the modern Afghan state. This volume is targeted to those enamored with all things Afghan; other readers might find it tedious. Color photos, map. (July)