“Taliban” by Ahmed Rashid  – published I B Tauris 2000 with revised and enlarged edition 2010:

This paperback, with excellent notes and appendices by a Pakistani journalist, is essential reading for understanding Afghanistan and its neighbours, especially Pakistan.  It underlines the trauma caused by continuous warfare from 1979 to 1996, followed by the Taliban rule, their downfall in 2001/2 and resurgence since then.  It points out the harm caused to Pakistan by its interference and involvement.  It also identifies the American neglect of Afghanistan after the Soviet withdrawal and during the Allied invasion of Iraq.