...serves as a quick reference to Afghan people, events, and issues from the Middle Ages to the present....With an extensive chronology, historical introduction, and helpful bibliography, this volume updates the 1996 edition to mid-2005.

Zentralblatt für Geologie und Paläontologie

The volume's comprehensive, topically arranged bibliography is first rate. This is a most useful reference source...

American Reference Books Annual

I was definitely fascinated by the subject matter, learnt a lot, and submit that it is much more than a 'historical dictionary,' more a handbook, and certainly a useful resource for reference collections.

Reference Reviews

Sadly, Afghanistan has experienced a constant succession of wars since its founding in 1747 and is currently involved in another one, as the United States attempts to stabilize the country under the government they put into place after overthrowing the Taliban. This historical dictionary by Adamec (Middle Eastern studies, U. of Arizona) contains alphabetical entries providing information on these centuries of warfare, giving biographical information on important figures, describing important campaigns and battles, examining tactics and weapons, and delineating important ideological and regional divisions in the country. The dictionary also contains a chronology, a historical overview essay, a bibliography, and appendixes reproducing such documents as the 1979 Soviet Report on Intervention and the Military Technical Agreement between the interim Afghan government of Hamid Karzai and the American-led international forces.

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