Butcher and Bolt
  • Published: 1 September 2010
  • ISBN: 9781409060291
  • Imprint: Cornerstone Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 400
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Butcher and Bolt

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The definitive account of 200 years of foreign engagement in Afghanistan by an award-winning BBC journalist

Afghanistan has been a strategic prize for more than 200 years. Foreign invaders have continually fought across its beautiful and inhospitable terrain, in conflicts variously ruthless, misguided and bloody. A century ago, the common sneer about how British soldiers treated Afghan tribesmen was that they would 'butcher' them, then 'bolt'.

Butcher and Bolt recounts this violent history, beginning with the very first British mission - an encounter that ushered in two centuries of conflict littered with misunderstandings and broken promises, in which the British, the Russians and later the Americans repeatedly underestimated the ability of the Afghans and the power of the Frontier tribes.

In a new final chapter that brings the book right up to date, David Loyn draws on the unique access he has had to Afghanistan over the past two decades to address the emerging threat of the Pakistani Taliban and the challenges that face those now fighting on the most dangerous frontier in the world.
  • Published: 1 September 2010
  • ISBN: 9781409060291
  • Imprint: Cornerstone Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 400
Categories:
Share…

About the author

David Loyn

David Loyn has been a foreign correspondent for more than 25 years, and was the only foreign reporter with the Taliban when they took Kabul in 1996. In 2006, he spent time with a local Taliban commander travelling through Helmand, protected from death only by the fact that he was a guest - his security was the Pashtun honour code. He has covered conflicts on three continents, and won major awards for both TV and radio reporting, including 'Journalist of the Year' in the Royal Television Society Awards in 1999. Frontline, his first book, was shortlisted for the Orwell Prize. His second book, Butcher and Bolt – 200 Years of Foreign Engagement in Afghanistan, was published in 2008.

Praise for Butcher and Bolt

A colourful primer to events that preceded the current conflict in this turbulent place

Metro

A loving and closely woven account of this troubled country

Guardian

A seminal book that I know for a fact is sitting on a number of British military commander's desks well-thumbed, as they strive to get to know their enemy in Afghanistan

Damien Lewis, bestselling author of Apache Dawn

Compelling and entertaining ... As the story romps onwards, the characters stay larger-than-life, on all sides

City AM

David Loyn has offered a salutary overview of blunder and barbarism in foreign interventions

The Independent

David Loyn, a long-time BBC foreign affairs reporter, has written a brilliant history book of Afghanistan's wars of the past two centuries, but more importantly the evidence he amasses poses a primary question about the war being fought in Afghanistan: are we sure this is a good idea? The lesson from history suggests it might not be . . . it is a bleak conclusion to a book that should be a must-read for every politician who sends our squaddies into Afghanistan - but one based fairly and squarely on the weight of history

New Statesman

Excellent ... Should be slipped into President Obama's Christmas stocking

Max Hastings, Sunday Times

Gripping ... Loyn's descriptions of three pointless campaigns fought by the British against the Afghans and Khyber tribesmen are as applicable to today's conflict as they were in Kipling's day

John Crossland, Daily Mail

I could not have enjoyed it more and think it quite excellent ... Should be read by young - and old - Army officers who go to Afghanistan. It is a great pity some of those who involved us in what is going on now did not understand what we would be up against

General the Lord Guthrie, former Chief of the Defence Staff

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a well-rounded, no-nonsense overview of Afghanistan. A brilliant read

Soldier

Impressive . . . Should be required reading for everyone in the Foreign Office

Joan Bakewell, Sunday Telegraph

Some of our worst failures there might have been averted, if only we'd bothered to learn the lessons of the past. This book should become a core text

Roger Cox, Scotsman

Superb ... Few Western journalists know Afghanistan better than Loyn

Saul David, Daily Telegraph