Why read Poppies, Politics, and Power?

Book cover of Poppies, Politics, and Power: Afghanistan and the Global History of Drugs and Diplomacy

Book description

Historians have long neglected Afghanistan's broader history when portraying the opium industry. But in Poppies, Politics, and Power, James Tharin Bradford rebalances the discourse, showing that it is not the past forty years of lawlessness that makes the opium industry what it is, but the sheer breadth of the twentieth-century…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Poppies, Politics, and Power as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Phil Halton

Author

Drug trafficking has become entwined with Afghanistan in the minds of many, though the true situation is often misunderstood. Bradford’s meticulous research not only clearly explains the present situation, it places it in the broader historical context that is almost always missing. The legal trade in opium has deep roots in Afghanistan, and even in the present day, there are as many senior government officials benefiting from it as there are insurgent leaders. He also explores the growing problem with addiction that plagues Afghanistan, humanizing a complex problem.

From Phil's list on the War in Afghanistan.