A review by larryerick
No Good Men Among the Living: America, the Taliban, and the War through Afghan Eyes by Anand Gopal

5.0

There are a few things I expect from an especially good non-fiction work: (1) learning something of value I didn't already know, (2) having information I may already know presented in a way that adds great clarity, cohesiveness, and memorability, and (3) moves me emotionally on what might otherwise be rather sterile facts. While I have already read some good books on Afghanistan and the war that America keeps fighting, this book very successfully meets all my criteria for outstanding work. Personally, I doubt that most Americans have a good understanding of why Afghanistan is so important in world relations, other than it being the location where people of differing religious beliefs to most Americans harbored a group of people who did harm to America. Few probably know of the pivotal role the country has played in regional politics for centuries. Few probably know of the details of the Russian occupation and the state Afghanistan was left in after the Russians left. And while many Americans will know of a connection between Afghanistan and the "war on terror", very few will know to what extent the American operations in the country have only served to amplify the very terrorism they are trying to remove. In fact, I challenge any Westerner to read this book and maintain the same response to the very recent terrorism in Europe. For my fiction-lover friends, I must also point out that I found it easy to relate major portions of this book -- this "real" story -- to the fictional narrative in Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns. And I can say without hesitation that this book was every bit as dramatic and even more suspenseful. Highly recommended.