Before Taliban : genealogies of the Afghan jihad / David B. Edwards.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 339-345) and index.

A digital reproduction is available from E-Editions, a collaboration of the University of California Press and the California Digital Library's eScholarship program.

1. Introduction : into forbidden Afghanistan -- part 1. The Saur revolution -- 2. Lives of the Party -- 3. The armature of Khalqi power -- Coda : the death of a President -- part 2. The Pech uprising -- 4. A son of Safi -- 5. Anatomy of a tribal uprising -- Coda : the death of a Safi daughter -- part 3. The Islamic jihad -- 6. Muslim youth -- 7. Fault lines in the Afghan jihad -- Coda : the death of Majrooh -- 8. Epilogue : Topakan and Taliban.

David B. Edwards traces the lives of three recent Afghan leaders in Afghanistan's history -- Nur Muhammad Taraki, Samiullah Safi, and Qazi Amin Waqad -- to explain how the promise of progress and prosperity that animated Afghanistan in the 1960s crumbled and became the present tragedy of discord, destruction, and despair. Each of the men Edwards profiles were engaged in the political struggles of the country's recent history. They hoped to see Afghanistan become a more just and democratic nation. But their visions for their country were radically different, and in the end, all three failed and were killed or exiled.