Butcher & Bolt

For more than two centuries, outside powers including the British, Russians and Americans have marched into Afghanistan, and their campaigns across its rugged, unforgiving land ended in cruelty, poor judgement and heavy loss. A mocking phrase from the early twentieth century, describing how British troops dealt with Afghan tribespeople, captured the attitude of the era and gives David Loyn's book its title.

Loyn opens with the first British mission, sent out exactly two hundred years ago. From there he follows a long record of misreading the Afghans and underestimating the Frontier tribes, along with broken pledges and missed chances that repeatedly drew the country into war. The book gives close attention to the individuals who shaped Afghanistan's dealings with the wider world.

The account carries on to the present day, drawing on the author's deep familiarity with the Taliban and with the forces now holding power in Afghanistan. Loyn uses this to ask what the earlier conflicts reveal about the situation today.