Overview

Full Product Details

9780231702461

Table of Contents

Reviews

If you think you know the Pakistan/Afghan frontier, think again. This innovative collaboration between an historian and an anthropologist has produced a remarkable and readable book that sheds new light on the dynamics of the region. It will be a standard text for a very long time to come. -- Charles Lindholm, Boston University, author of Generosity and Jealousy: The Swat Pukhtun of Northern Pakistan Fragments of the Afghan Frontier is unique in many respects, particularly in the way it combines the disciplines and methodologies of history and anthropology (archival and ethnographic) in fascinating and unexpected ways. While several recent books have taken the Afghan-Pakistan border as their subject, this one captures a broader historical range (1870 to the present) and a more diverse population than any other recent study. The book is theoretically sophisticated in its understanding of the dynamics of border regions and shines a light on significant events whose historical importance and resonance for present circumstances have been inadequately appreciated, if not altogether ignored. -- David B. Edwards, Williams College The essays in this excellent volume will provide a jolt to those making easy generalizations -- too often used to guide policy -- that misjudge the sophistication and complexity of the societies of the Afghanistan-Pakistan frontier. The authors pair serious archival research with extensive ethnographic experience, making a remarkable contribution to a subject of unquestioned importance. -- Barbara D. Metcalf, author of Islamic Revival in British India: Deoband 1860--1900 If you think you know the Pakistan/Afghan frontier, think again. This innovative collaboration between an historian and an anthropologist has produced a remarkable and readable book that sheds new light on the dynamics of the region. It will be a standard text for a very long time to come. -- Charles Lindholm, University Professor of Anthropology, University of Boston, and author of Generosity and Jealousy: The Swat Pukhtun of Northern Pakistan.

If you think you know the Pakistan/Afghan frontier, think again. This innovative collaboration between an historian and an anthropologist has produced a remarkable and readable book that sheds new light on the dynamics of the region. It will be a standard text for a very long time to come. -- Charles Lindholm, University Professor of Anthropology, University of Boston, and author of Generosity and Jealousy: The Swat Pukhtun of Northern Pakistan. Fragments of the Afghan Frontier is unique in many respects, particularly in the way it combines the disciplines and methodologies of history and anthropology (archival and ethnographic) in fascinating and unexpected ways. While several recent books have taken the Afghan-Pakistan border as their subject, this one captures a broader historical range (1870 to the present) and a more diverse population than any other recent study. The book is theoretically sophisticated in its understanding of the dynamics of border regions and shines a light on significant events whose historical importance and resonance for present circumstances have been inadequately appreciated, if not altogether ignored. -- David B. Edwards, Professor of Social Sciences, Williams College The essays in this excellent volume will provide a jolt to those making easy generalisations -- too often used to guide policy -- that misjudge the sophistication and complexity of the societies of the Afghanistan-Pakistan frontier. The authors couple serious archival research with extensive ethnographic experience, making for a remarkable contribution to a subject of unquestioned importance. -- Barbara D. Metcalf, author of Islamic Revival in British India: Deoband 1860-1900 If you think you know the Pakistan/Afghan frontier, think again. This innovative collaboration between an historian and an anthropologist has produced a remarkable and readable book that sheds new light on the dynamics of the region. It will be a standard text for a very long time to come. -- Charles Lindholm, University Professor of Anthropology, University of Boston, and author of Generosity and Jealousy: The Swat Pukhtun of Northern Pakistan.

Author Information

Benjamin D. Hopkins is an assistant professor of history and international affairs at George Washington University. He is the author of The Making of Modern Afghanistan. Magnus Marsden is a senior lecturer in social anthropology at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. He has spent fifteen years conducting research in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and is the author of Living Islam: Muslim Religious Experience in Pakistan's North-West Frontier.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available