Military officers' Afghanistan reading list
Here is a sample of materials field-grade officers are encouraged to read before deploying to Afghanistan. (Full list available at www.fcw.com/bookmarks)
"Afghanistan 101" – Ehsan Entezar
"Descent into Chaos: The U.S. and the Disaster in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia "– Ahmed Rashid
"MCIA Afghanistan Cultural Field Guide" – Marine Corps Intelligence Activity
"Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia" – Ahmed Rashid
"Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time" – Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
"Twenty–Eight Articles: Fundamentals of Company Level Counterinsurgency" – Dr. David Kilcullen
Additional reading:
"Culture and Customs of Afghanistan" – Hafizullah Emadi
"Flashman: A Novel" – George MacDonald Fraser
"Ghost Wars" – Steve Coll
"Imperial Hubris" – Michael Scheuer
"Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia" – Ahmed Rashid
"The Kite Runner" – Khaled Hosseini
"The Man Who Would Be King: The First American in Afghanistan" – Ben Macintyre
"The Osama Bin Laden I Know: An Oral History" – Peter Bergen
"A Thousand Splendid Suns" – Khaled Hosseini
"Through Our Enemies' Eyes: Osama bin Laden, Radical Islam, and the Future of America" – Michael Scheuer
Source: U.S. Combined Arms Center