It’s very interesting, but not many people know the history of Afghanistan, even though our army has spent more than eight years there, fighting one of the longest wars we’ve ever had. But a mere decade is a drop in the ocean of the known written history of Afghanistan and its people. It is interesting that the United States is now taking an interest in the people, the culture, the landscape and its possible future.

In fact, I think it’s worth learning a bit of history before making snap judgments about what the United States should do with its involvement in Afghanistan. There are too many people watching the news who don’t really understand it, but they should, especially as voters who decide which politicians are going to spend how much of our taxpayers’ money there.

There is a very good book that I would especially recommend to homeschooling parents who may have children who would like to see them learn a little more about this country. This is a book that I have, and I would like to recommend you, the name of the book is;

Afghanistan (Countries and Cultures Collection) by Mary Englar, Capstone Press, Mankato, Minnesota, (2004), 64 pages, ISBN: 0-7368-2174-0.

One of the most fascinating parts of this book is the timeline from Alexander the Great to the election of Hamid Karzai in 2002. This book also covers the Soviet Union’s evasion and occupation of Afghanistan in 1979. It also explains how the Taliban took over of Afghanistan in 1996, and that’s when things really changed, and those changes ultimately affected the United States to a much greater degree.

The book is divided into chapters, but the first chapter explains many of the facts you need to know about the country, such as the population, resources, agriculture, and lifestyle. The history of Afghanistan is completely interesting, and its economy is more interesting than you think. The difficulties of everyday life and culture are also quite interesting and have really changed over the years.

There is a recipe in this book on how to make khati cookies, which is great and they are not that difficult to make. I enjoyed making these cookies while reading the book one afternoon and felt a sense of friendship with the Afghan people. I hope you do too, please consider buying this book and thinking about it.