• Complain

MCLEAN KEVIN - Crossing the River Kabul

Here you can read online MCLEAN KEVIN - Crossing the River Kabul full text of the book (entire story) in english for free. Download pdf and epub, get meaning, cover and reviews about this ebook. City: Afghanistan;Place of publication not identified, year: 2017, publisher: Potomac Books, genre: Art. Description of the work, (preface) as well as reviews are available. Best literature library LitArk.com created for fans of good reading and offers a wide selection of genres:

Romance novel Science fiction Adventure Detective Science History Home and family Prose Art Politics Computer Non-fiction Religion Business Children Humor

Choose a favorite category and find really read worthwhile books. Enjoy immersion in the world of imagination, feel the emotions of the characters or learn something new for yourself, make an fascinating discovery.

MCLEAN KEVIN Crossing the River Kabul
  • Book:
    Crossing the River Kabul
  • Author:
  • Publisher:
    Potomac Books
  • Genre:
  • Year:
    2017
  • City:
    Afghanistan;Place of publication not identified
  • Rating:
    5 / 5
  • Favourites:
    Add to favourites
  • Your mark:
    • 100
    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5

Crossing the River Kabul: summary, description and annotation

We offer to read an annotation, description, summary or preface (depends on what the author of the book "Crossing the River Kabul" wrote himself). If you haven't found the necessary information about the book — write in the comments, we will try to find it.

Baryalai Popal sees his Western-educated professors at Kabul University replaced by communists. He witnesses his classmates disappearing. The communist takeover uproots Popal from his family and home. Thus begins Crossing the River Kabul, the true story of Popals escape from Afghanistan and his eventual return. Kevin McLean weaves together Popals stories in this memoir, which is also a fascinating look at Afghanistan from the viewpoint of Popal and generations of his politically influential family. From the exile of Popals grandfather from Kandahar in 1898to his fathers tutoring of two boys who as adults would play important roles in Afghanistanone as king and the other as presidentto his uncles presence at the fateful meeting that led to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Popalsfamily history is intertwined with that of his nation. Popal fled his country following the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in 1980. After being imprisoned as a spy in Pakistan,...

MCLEAN KEVIN: author's other books


Who wrote Crossing the River Kabul? Find out the surname, the name of the author of the book and a list of all author's works by series.

Crossing the River Kabul — read online for free the complete book (whole text) full work

Below is the text of the book, divided by pages. System saving the place of the last page read, allows you to conveniently read the book "Crossing the River Kabul" online for free, without having to search again every time where you left off. Put a bookmark, and you can go to the page where you finished reading at any time.

Light

Font size:

Reset

Interval:

Bookmark:

Make

Baryalai Popals personal story is a poignant microcosm of the beauty and - photo 1

Baryalai Popals personal story is a poignant microcosm of the beauty and tragedy of Afghanistan.

Ronald E. Neumann, former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan

A fascinating, moving, and highly readable story. We learn much about Afghan family, tribal, and cultural valuesas kings, presidents, ministers, and warlords all make their way through these pages.

Tim Foxley, former Afghanistan senior analyst for the UK Ministry of Defense

An exciting tale, as current today as it was in 1980 when Bar Popal and his family fled Afghanistan, Crossing the River Kabul is a harrowing adventure with life and death consequences explaining the tribulations experienced by refugees. While following one family, this book puts a human face on the harsh realities and complexities of those millions of people who flee the destruction of their homelands. It should be read by every compassionate person who contemplates the plight of refugees.

John B. Alexander, former U.S. Army colonel and advisor to senior ministry officials in Kabul

Crossing the River Kabul is full of exceptionally interesting stories not found in historical accounts. Afghans and non-Afghans alike will find it gripping reading.

Nabi Misdaq, broadcast journalist with the BBC World Service and author of Afghanistan: Political Frailty and External Interference

Crossing the River Kabul
Crossing the River Kabul
An Afghan Family Odyssey

Kevin McLean

Potomac Books

An imprint of the University of Nebraska Press

2017 by Kevin McLean

Cover designed by University of Nebraska Press; cover image iStockphoto.com/Mie Ahmt.

Author photo Naomi McLean.

Unless otherwise stated, photographs originally appeared in Afghanistan: Ancient Land with Modern Ways, published in 1960 by the Ministry of Planning of the Royal Government of Afghanistan.

All rights reserved. Potomac Books is an imprint of the University of Nebraska Press.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: McLean, Kevin, author.

Title: Crossing the River Kabul: an Afghan family odyssey / Kevin McLean.

Description: Lincoln: Potomac Books, an imprint of the University of Nebraska Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016034822 (print)

LCCN 2016056610 (ebook)

ISBN 9781612348971 (cloth: alk. paper)

ISBN 9781612349213 (epub)

ISBN 9781612349220 (mobi)

ISBN 9781612349237 ( pdf)

Subjects: LCSH : Popal, Baryalai, 1952 | AfghanistanPolitics and government20th century. | AfghanistanHistorySoviet occupation, 19791989. | CommunismAfghanistanHistory. | AfghansBiography.

Classification: LCC DS 361 . M 36 2017 (print) | LCC DS 361 (ebook) | DDC 958.104/5092 [B]dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016034822

The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

For Naomi, the love of my life

By blood, we are immersed in love of you.

The youth lose their heads for your sake.

I come to you and my heart finds rest.

Away from you, grief clings to my heart like a snake.

I forget the throne of Delhi

When I remember the mountaintops of my Afghan land,

If I must choose between the world and you,

I shall not hesitate to claim your barren deserts as my own.

Ahmad Shah Durrani

Contents

Maps

Photographs

Baryalai Popal fled Afghanistan in 1980 after the Russian invasion. When U.S. and Afghan forces ousted the Taliban in 2002, Bar returned to Kabul for the first time in twenty years. That summer Bar told me the story of his return. That is the most amazing story Ive ever heard, I said.

I have many such stories, he replied.

Bars stories became the threads from which I would weave the history of his family and, with it, the history of Afghanistan.

I have chosen to tell Bars story in his voice. At his request some family names have been changed.

This book represents two journeys, Baryalais incredible journey from Kabul to America and the ten-year journey we took together in writing this book. I am in Baryalais debt for taking the time and effort to relate his many stories to me, for his diligence in ensuring my telling of them was accurate, and for his amazing memory. Baryalais wife, Afsana, contributed stories of her own and helped flesh out others while sharing her extraordinary Afghan dishes. I am grateful to Pamela Feinsilber, who provided invaluable editorial help teasing out more from every story and finding an organizational approach to a sprawling saga. My thanks to Tim Foxley and Nabi Misdaq, who reviewed the manuscript and provided useful input based on their vast knowledge and experience in Afghanistan, and to Dr. John B. Alexander, former U.S. Army colonel, for his advice and support. I also owe a great deal of thanks to Ronald E. Neumann, former ambassador to Afghanistan, whose positive response and faith in my book shepherded it to publication.

And I owe my undying thanks to my wife, Naomi, without whose constant support, suggestions, editing, and encouragement this journey would not have seen an end.

My story is entwined with that of my country. As in any relationship, you will find love, hate, battles, resolution, despair, hopeall greatly magnified because my country, the country of my birth and that of my grandparents and parents, my uncles, aunts, and cousins, my wife and my children, the country that I hold most close to my heart in my thoughts and memories, is Afghanistan. When an Afghan tells a story, he knows not to begin by boasting of how powerful his family is. For the storyteller to make himself appear more important than his listener is disrespectful, and the most important thing you can offer others is respect. But I must tell you that I am a Popalzai from one of Afghanistans two royal families. Legend has it that one day, many centuries ago, when the aging King Zirak asked his eldest son, Barak, for help getting onto his horse, Barak mocked his fathers weakness. Popal, the youngest son, took pity on his father and helped him into the saddle. When King Zirak named Popal to succeed him, Barak refused to recognize his younger brother as king. From that time on the Popalzai and the Barakzai have fought for control of Afghanistan.

In 1747 King Nadir Shah, who had created a great empire that stretched from Persia to Delhi, died. Ahmad Khan, a Popalzai, declared himself the new kingbut of course, the Barakzai refused to accept him. Rather than go to war, Ahmad Khan called a loya jirga, a decision-making council of tribal elders that is still used in Afghanistan today.

The loya jirga elected Ahmad Khan king and proclaimed him Durr-i-Durrani, the Pearl of Pearls. His kingdom became known as the Durrani Empire. Under Ahmad Shah Durrani the nation of Afghanistan began to take shape. Until the Communist coup in 1978, Afghanistan was governed by either a Popalzai or a Barakzai.

All members of the Popalzai tribe once had Popalzai as their family name. It is said that my grandfather Mukarram, a Pashtun and a khan of Kandahar, shortened our last name to Popal over a disagreement with his fellow Popalzai. My grandfathers cousin Khair Mohammad, another local khan (and the grandfather of former Afghan president Hamid Karzai), changed his family name from Popalzai to Karzai, for the village of Karz near Kandahar where the Karzai family has its roots.

Next page
Light

Font size:

Reset

Interval:

Bookmark:

Make

Similar books «Crossing the River Kabul»

Look at similar books to Crossing the River Kabul. We have selected literature similar in name and meaning in the hope of providing readers with more options to find new, interesting, not yet read works.


Reviews about «Crossing the River Kabul»

Discussion, reviews of the book Crossing the River Kabul and just readers' own opinions. Leave your comments, write what you think about the work, its meaning or the main characters. Specify what exactly you liked and what you didn't like, and why you think so.