Amin Saikal is Director of the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies and Professor of Political Science at the Australian National University. He has been a visiting fellow at the Universities of Princeton and Cambridge, as well as at Sussex University's Institute of Development Studies. He has also been a Rockefeller Foundation Fellow in International Relations. He is the author of numerous works on the Middle East, Central Asia and Russia, including Islam and the West: Conflict or Cooperation? (2003); The Rise and Fall of the Shah: Iran from Autocracy to Religious Rule (2009) and States of Crisis: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Iran (forthcoming, I.B.Tauris).

• Introduction Chapter 1 From Tribal Confederacy to National Coalescence Chapter 2 National Awakening and Nationalism Chapter 3 Independence and Radical Modernisation Chapter 4 The Nadiri Dynasty: Politics of National Gradualism and ‘Royal Dualism’ Chapter 5 The Cold War and the Rise of a Rentier State Chapter 6 Experiment with Democracy, 1963-1973 Chapter 7 Daoud's Republicanism Chapter 8 Communist Rule, the Soviet Invasion and Resistance Chapter 9 Mujahideen Islamic Rule and Taliban ExtremismChapter 10 US Intervention and the Karzai eraConclusion

'An original contribution to the field.' Robert D. McChesney, New York University. 'Successfully sustains a new approach to Afghan history... excellent and lucid: a much-needed account.' Peter Avery, King's College, University of Cambridge. 'Saikal's contribution to our understanding and analysis of modern Afghanistan post 9/11 is a very important one.' International Affairs. 'Fascinating... this is an excellent primer.' The Sydney Morning Herald. 'authoritative' The Middle East Magazine