Kirjahaku

In 2011, in a city in northern Syria, the people began a movement that aimed to remake their country after decades of brutal dictatorship. For the next eighteen months, citizens of Manbij carried out one of the most remarkable experiments in democracy in modern times. Days of Love and Rage tells the story of the Syrian revolution, from its early days through the overthrow of the Assad regime, in microcosm. Anand Gopal immerses us in the world of a single city through the intimate narratives of the men and women who led the struggle. Through mesmerising and moving stories, we experience the highs of camaraderie and the lows of betrayal: a pair of best friends torn apart by political polarisation, a mother who stands up to male dominance, a worker who risks everything for the dream of equality. Transcending the particulars of one terrible conflict, this sweeping narrative is, above all, an account of the best and worst of humanity. Days of Love and Rage is the story of our enduring need for freedom and dignity, community and hope.

Through their dramatic stories, Gopal shows that the Afghan war, so often regarded as a hopeless quagmire, could in fact have gone very differently. Top Taliban leaders actually tried to surrender within months of the US invasion, renouncing all political activity and submitting to the new government. Effectively, the Taliban ceased to exist - yet the Americans were unwilling to accept such a turnaround. Instead, driven by false intelligence from their allies and an unyielding mandate to fight terrorism, American forces continued to press the conflict, resurrecting the insurgency that persists to this day. With its intimate accounts of life in war-torn Afghanistan, Gopal's thoroughly original reporting lays bare the workings of America's longest war and the truth behind its prolonged agony.

PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST WINNER OF THE RIDENHOUR PRIZE In a breathtaking chronicle, acclaimed journalist Anand Gopal traces the lives of three Afghans caught in America's war on terror. He follows a Taliban commander, who rises from scrawny teenager to leading insurgent; a US-backed warlord, who uses the American military to gain wealth and power; and a village housewife trapped between the two sides, who discovers the devastating cost of neutrality. Through their dramatic stories emerges a stunning tale of how the United States had triumph in sight in Afghanistan-and then brought the Taliban back from the dead. This new edition includes an afterword by the author written after his return to Afghanistan following the US withdrawal, and a new preface reflecting on the 25th anniversary of the US invasion and a quarter-century of the Global War on Terror.