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The Places In Between |  | Author: Rory Stewart
Publisher: Picador
Category: Book
List Price: £8.99
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Rating:  32 reviews
Sales Rank: 978
Format: Unabridged
Media: Paperback
Edition: text @ mck cover @ mck
Pages: 324
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 0330486349
EAN: 9780330486347
ASIN: 0330486349
Publication Date: April 1, 2005
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Caught between hostile nations, warring factions and competing ideologies, at the time, Afghanistan was in turmoil following the US invasion. This title presents an account of his walk across Afghanistan.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 32
 the unseen Afganistan July 1, 2010
Annie (London UK)
Fascinating and compelling read. A real page-turner written with much style by a very brave man who really puts his life at risk but really connects with the people he stays with. The ending is also really moving and I would really recommend this book.
 Fascinating insight April 4, 2010
R. Paterson
This is a fascinating account of a unique journey. Rory Stewart gives a deep insight into rural Afghanistan and the political difficulties of effecting any substantial change in that country.
An enthralling read March 29, 2010
S. Welham (Scotland)
I bought this book after seeing the author's programme about Lawrence of Arabia on television. I found it quite enthralling and I feel I have a much better understanding of the country of Afghanistan . My respect for the author grew as he walked across the country. Here was a man who listened to people and empathised with those he met without being patronising. I loved the book and have passed it to others who have felt the same. It strikes me that the High and Mighty war makers would do well to consult with Rory Stewart rather than some of the other experts whose views they hold so dear.
Great Adventure March 27, 2010
conjunction
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have never been to Afghanistan. I have read half a dozen books about it but this is the only one which has given me much of a feel for what the people are like.
Stewart walks from Herat to Kabul a few weeks after the Americans and British 'defeated' the Taliban in the winter of 2001-2. He walks on a route that no-one uses for long distance travel, even in a car or truck, a route which is direct as the crow flies, through many mountainous villages.
The book gives some indication of the different races, languages, and political affiliations, affiliations between regional overlords, those who fought for and against the Russians, for and against the Taliban. Almost everyone lives in bone-numbing poverty, at least by European standards.
Unless I missed something Stewart met precisely three women during this journey, and only talked to one of them. There were probably more but if there were, he doesn't mention them. Afghanistan is evidently a country in which women stay out of sight. Whether or not the Taliban are in power only makes a difference of degree. This is not a matter of much apparent interest to Stewart, but his conversations and interactions with the men he meets are unputdownable. Almost everyone he meets is carrying a Kalashnikov.
It starts slowly but develops a head of steam. Great reading.
Following in Babur's footsteps March 13, 2010
M. A. Krul (Utrecht, Kingdom of the Netherlands)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
"The Places in Between" is the chronicle of Rory Stewart's journey by foot from Herat to Kabul, accompanied by nothing else but the occasional villager or passing soldier and his local dog, named Babur. This is a fitting name because Stewart, who would later be appointed to an important government post in occupied Iraq (The Prince of the Marshes: And Other Occupational Hazards of a Year in Iraq), not only wants to explore the beautiful Afghan landscape but also study the traces of its history in the present. The original Babur was one of the few leaders in Afghan history who had united the whole territory and who considered it central to his empire, and he is particularly interesting because he left an autobiographical text which is remarkable for its honesty, its objectivity, and its insight into the norms of those days. With these two Baburs, knowledge of local language and customs, and a bag full of medication, Rory Stewart sets out to traverse the sublime deserts and snow-capped mountains of central Afghanistan.
The tale is very well written and makes for easy and highly compelling reading. It is a telling fact that he makes his journey, which consists in essence out of endlessly repeated harsh day marches from one village chief's tent to the next, interesting to people who have never even been near the area. Stewart is very nonjudgmental overall, probably in part because he is entirely reliant on the kindness of strangers (who are often as hostile as they are hospitable to travellers) in the classic manner of travel writing. The book sheds some light on the highly complicated chain of political and ethnic conflicts within Afghanistan - almost every Afghan male has fought in at least one, if not more, war in the country. It is clear that loyalties are usually not quite as clear-cut as one would like them to be in order to understand them: very often the same feudal lords who had opposed the Taliban later joined them, and sometimes Iran-supported islamists are the greatest enemies of local chieftains, and so forth. Stewart's book does not really delve into political analysis, but certainly shows 'ad oculos' what the real meaning of politics is in Afghanistan.
All this is not to say that Stewart is necessarily an entirely reliable guide. The American edition of the book indicates that Rick Loomis took pictures of him along the way, but having a cameraman along is not mentioned anywhere. Moreover, it is clear from the facts that Stewart has been in the British Army, knows Dari as well as local politics thoroughly, has been involved with the Kennedy School of Government and finally his later appointment as governor in the occupying government in Iraq, that it is highly likely that he is a spy of some sort. Given this fact, the fact that Stewart was allowed to undertake his trip at all is quite remarkable, and it does seem some strings were pulled to make it possible. Of course, he himself says nothing about this. The result in any case is an insightful and highly readable book that will appeal to anyone interested in Afghanistan.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 32
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