Kühn provides a concise application of Hans Blumenberg’s work on myth to analyse western interpretations of Afghanistan. In portraying historical ‘facts’ as myth, he shows how these are not false or correct but in a productive way shape our understanding by selecting what can be considered relevant and what is dismissed. Following Blumenberg, Kühn demonstrates how myths’ relative indeterminacy allows integrating incongruences, tying together historical analogies and selected real-world experiences. Myth helps structure knowledge, which Kühn illustrates by looking at the myth of Afghanistan as ‘graveyard of empires’, as ‘safe haven’ for terrorists, and fame for Afghan ‘fierce fighters’. Explaining how these myths intersect to create an image of Afghanistan taken for real, he shows how Blumenberg’s ideas can be applied to analyse contemporary politics.

"An insightful and comprehensive biography of the great twentieth century sculptor, Alberto Giacometti. Alberto Giacometti was one of the most enigmatic and memorable personalities of the twentieth century. Born in Switzerland in 1901, he settled in Paris in 1922 where he lived and worked for the rest of his life. Giacometti's early influences included his father-painter Giovanni Giacometti-sculptor Antoine Bourdelle, and mentors Zadkine, Lipchitz, and Laurens. When he turned from cubism to surrealism, his work earned near-instantaneous recognition, but Giacometti quickly moved on, pioneering a solitary path on the margin of contemporary trends. Today, his signature elongated sculptures are icons of art history. The fruit of new research, this riveting biography offers a chronological look at the whole of the artist's life and work."-- $c Provided by publisher.

Archaeology and its Discontents examines the state of archaeology today and its development throughout the twentiethcentury, making a powerful case for new approaches. Surveying the themes of twentieth-century archaeological theory, Barrett looks at their successes, limitations, and failures. Seeing more failures and limitations than successes, he argues that archaeology has over-focused on explaining the human construction of material variability and should instead be more concerned with understanding how human diversity has been constructed. Archaeology matters, he argues, precisely because of the insights it can offer into the development of human diversity. The analysis and argument are illustrated throughout by reference to the development of the European Neolithic. Arguing both for new approaches and for the importance of archaeology as a discipline, Archaeology and its Discontents is for archaeologists at all levels, from student to professor and trainee to experienced practitioner

The title of the book says it all – "Pakistan – a Victim of Democracy". Frankly, this has been the story of Pakistan’s existence. In its quest for that mirage called "a perfect democracy," Pakistan lost its eastern half and, according to some, with it its raison d’etre. So, when you look at Pakistan and study its history you would be well advised to divide it into two Pakistans: the original Pakistan of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, which included East Pakistan and the current Pakistan of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. We always tend to mix the two and inevitably come to wrong conclusions. Pakistan certainly is a victim of the quest for "democracy".

"Today's most urgent problems are fundamentally global. They require nothing less than concerted, planetwide action if we are to secure a long-term future. But humanity's story has always been on a global scale, and this history deeply informs the present. In this book, Jeffrey D. Sachs, renowned economist and expert on sustainable development, turns to world history to shed light on how we can meet the challenges and opportunities of the twenty-first century. Sachs takes readers through a series of six distinct waves of technological and ideological change, starting with the very beginnings of our species and ending with reflections on present-day globalization. Along the way, he considers how the interplay of geography, technology, and institutions influenced the Neolithic revolution; the spread of land-based empires; the opening of sea routes from Europe to Asia and the Americas; and the industrial age. The dynamics of these past waves, Sachs contends, give us new perspective on the ongoing processes taking place in our own time-and how we should work to guide the change we need. In light of this new understanding of globalization, Sachs emphasizes the need for new methods of international governance and cooperation to achieve economic, social, and environmental objectives aligned with sustainable development. The Ages of Globalization is a vital book for all readers aiming to make sense of our rapidly changing world"--

The story of a hotel. The story of a nation.When the Inter-Continental Kabul opened in 1969, Afghanistan’s first luxury hotel symbolised a dream of a modernising country connected to the world.More than fifty years on, the Inter-Continental is still standing. It has endured Soviet occupation, multiple coups, a grievous civil war, a US invasion and the rise, fall and rise of the Taliban. History lives within its scarred windows and walls.Lyse Doucet, the BBC’s Chief International Correspondent, has been checking into the Inter-Continental since 1988. And here, she uses its story to craft a richly immersive history of modern Afghanistan.It is the story of Hazrat, the septuagenarian housekeeper who still holds fast to his Inter-Continental training from the hotel’s 1970s glory days—an era of haute cuisine and high fashion, when Afghanistan was a kingdom and Kabul was the ‘Paris of Asia’. It is the story of Abida, who became the first female chef to cook in the Inter-Con’s famous kitchen after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. And it is the story of Malalai and Sadeq, the twenty-something staff who seized every opportunity offered by two decades of fragile democracy—only to witness the Taliban roaring back in 2021.The result is a remarkably vivid history of how Afghans have survived a half century of destruction and disruption. It is the story of a hotel but also the story of a people.

"The Historian's Toolbox introduces students to the theory, craft, and methods of history and equips them with a series of tools to research and understand the past. Written in an engaging and entertaining style, and filled with fascinating examples, this best-selling "how to" book opens up an exciting world behind historical research and writing. This fourth edition expands the repertory of tools and techniques available to students entering the workshop of history. These include materials on the Kennedy assassination, the litigation of Van Gogh's Night Café, local town histories, contemporary history, Twitter, and the contemplation of the end of history as well as the Sixth Extinction in a new epilogue. The book demonstrates the relevance and expanding possibilities of the study of history in our cacophonous information age of tweetstorms and fake news; it emphasises the increasing value of critical thinking, facts and evidence in the face of political lies and conspiracy theories. Material added to the fourth edition will resonate with a new generation of computer-literate readers in the face of climate change. The Historian's Toolbox continues to be a seminal text for supporting students throughout their study of history and an accessible teaching tool for instructors."

March 1947. A four-year-old Salima Hashmi is witness to the Sikh leader, Master Tara Singh and his many followers denouncing the demand for Pakistan.Soon, the sub-continent is partitioned and Salima, her sister Moneeza, her English mother Alys, and her father, the renowned Urdu poet and leftist intellectual, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, are citizens of the nascent Pakistan.Life in the newly formed nation is full of ups and downs, the lowest points being Faiz’s imprisonment in 1951 on charges of sedition and his subsequent self-exile from Pakistan in 1960. Even as the family struggles to cope, life is not without its highpoints. There are picnics and outings with her cousins, Salma, Mariam and Billoo. The family home is frequented by writers, artistes and political figures and Salima is privy to their conversations and arguments. And through it all, Salima finds her footing in art which becomes her life’s calling.Waiting in the Wings, the first part of her two-volume memoir, is the account of the first two-and-a-half decades of Salima’s life. It is as much a portrait of a young nation as it is the account of the author’s own life.