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An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan
An Unexpected Light Travels in Afghanistan Author:Jason Elliot Part travelogue, part historical evocation, part personal quest, and part reflection on the joys and perils of passage, An Unexpected Light is the stunning account of Jason Elliot's journey through Afghanistan, a country considered off-limits to travelers for twenty years.Aware of the risks involved, but determined to explore what he could of th... more »e Afghan people and culture, Elliot leaves the relative security of the capital, Kabul. He travels by foot and on horseback, and hitches rides on trucks which eventually lead him into the snowbound mountains of the North toward Uzbekistan, the former battlefields of the Soviet army's "hidden war."Here the forbidden beauty of the Afghan landscape kindles a moving recollection of the author's life ten years earlier, when, no more than a boy, he fought with the anti-Soviet mujaheddin resistance during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Weaving different Afghan times and visits with revealing insights on matters ranging from antipersonnel mines to Sufism, Jason Elliot has created a narrative mosaic of startling prose which captures perfectly the powerful allure of a seldom-glimpsed world. An Unexpected Light is a remarkable, poignant book about Afghanistan and a heartfelt reflection on the experience of travel itself. AUTHORBIO: Jason Elliot lives in London.This is his first book.« less