Includes bibliographical references (p. 355-359) and index.

Crossroad of empires -- Alexander the Great -- The prize of conquest -- The Mongols -- The rise of Afghanistan -- The great game -- The triumph of the tribes -- Victorian vengeance -- The Soviets -- The Mujahideen -- The rise of the Taliban -- The Americans -- Pashtunistan.

This volume provides a military history of Afghanistan, including the recent operations by American and Afghan forces fighting the Taliban insurgency. For over 2,500 years, the forbidding territory of Afghanistan has served as a vital crossroads for armies and has witnessed history-shaping clashes between civilizations: Greek, Arab, Mongol, and Tartar, and, in more recent times, British, Russian, and American. When U.S. troops entered Afghanistan in the weeks following September 11, 2001, they overthrew the Afghan Taliban regime and sent the terrorists it harbored on the run. But America's initial easy victory is in sharp contrast to the difficulties it faces today in confronting the Taliban resurgence.