In 1987, the Afghan Media Resource Center (AMRC) of Williams College, based in Peshawar, Pakistan, sent photographers and journalists to cover the tail end of the war with the Soviets. At the time, the center accumulated massive archives of videotapes, photographs, and press articles, later brought back for digitization and used as primary sources for this book. An expert in violence and culture, Edwards (anthropology, Willams Coll.) takes a genealogical approach to history not only in terms of relationships but "moral responsibility," adding a cultural aspect to politics. He began this process with his first book, Heroes of the Age: Moral Fault Lines on the Afghan Frontier. With this book, he continues to piece together relationships that have shaped Afghanistan's past, present, and inevitably its future by following the lives of three Afghan leaders: Nur Muhammad Taraki, Samiullah Safi, and Qazi Amin Waqad. He introduces significant persons, parties, and uprisings, bringing us to the point where Taliban and Topakan were created. Filled with photographs and maps that document the stories told, this book provides a rare and timely account of politics and culture in Afghanistan. An essential research tool in academic and research libraries.