‘Just as Afghanistan faces a crucial choice, we have a book that for the first time places readers at the heart of the Taliban's way of thinking—My Life with the Taliban, by Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, the former Taliban minister and ambassador to Pakistan, who spent over four years in Guantánamo prison. Originally published in Pashto, the language of the Pashtuns, the book has been beautifully translated and extensively edited for easier understanding by Alex Strick van Linschoten and Felix Kuehn, two researchers who live in Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban.’

Ahmed Rashid, author of Taliban and Descent into Chaos, writing in the New York Review of Books - link

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‘The recent history of Afghanistan is the focus of this harrowing autobiography by Taliban member Zaeef. ... a valuable addition to the literature on contemporary Afghan history.’

Publishers Weekly (review) - link

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‘the next MUST-READ on Afghanistan’

Stephen Grey, author of Ghost Planes and Operation Snakebite - link

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"...could not be better timed...fascinating, full of insights on who the Taliban are and how they came about, and should be required reading for anyone with an interest in the region…"

Christina Lamb, award-winning Sunday Times correspondent - link

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‘presents a unique insight into the worldview of the Taliban. ... No other book published so far in English offers this. ... an important historical document and a captivating read.’

Dr Antonio Giustozzi, LSE, author of Koran, Kalashnikov and Laptop: The Neo Taliban In Afghanistan

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‘Highly significant...will be widely read by specialists and attract general interest. It will greatly appeal to those wanting an Islamist counter to orthodox accounts of the rise and fall of the Taliban.’

Michael Semple, former EU representative in Afghanistan

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‘Who are the Taliban? This is the question that has obsessed policy-makers and the public alike in the last decade. In this truly exceptional text, the former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Mullah Zaeef, offers an honest account of his personal world-view and a first-hand history of the Taliban movement. The remarkable editing of Alex Strick van Linschoten and Felix Kuehn allows non-specialists fully to understand the context and cultural references that support Zaeef's narrative.’

Professor Gilles Dorronsoro, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

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‘a very interesting memoir. ... Zaeef’s account is, to my knowledge, the first and only memoir penned by an important figure in the Taliban movement.’

Professor Robert Crews, Stanford University

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‘The entire world wants to understand the Taliban these days, it seems, as the war in Afghanistan becomes the topic of the moment. Precious few people can tell the inside story of the shadowy movement, however, which makes Mullah Zaeef's autobiography an incredibly important book.  By revealing the inner workings of the Taliban from the early days of the movement, Zaeef challenges the accepted wisdom about the insurgency now facing international troops. By the time you're finished reading, you might not sympathize with the Taliban - but you will know them as people, not monsters.  If your government sends soldiers to Afghanistan, you must read this.’

Graeme Smith, Globe & Mail Kandahar Correspondent 2005-9 & Emmy Award Winner 2009

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‘Not, perhaps, since the Khmer Rouge, has a movement emerged on the world stage about which so much is opaque to outsiders as the Taliban. Much of that opacity is, of course, intentional. Into this murk Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef shines some much-needed light with his fascinating memoir as a Taliban insider. By virtue of his role as the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Zaeef was privy to the Taliban’s decision-making in the run up to 9/11 and thereafter. And his story has much to say about the nature of the gathering insurgency that NATO and the United States presently face. If President Obama wanted a window into the thinking of the Taliban today he couldn’t do better than this.’

Peter Bergen, author of Holy War, Inc. and The Osama bin Laden I Know

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‘Spies, generals and ambassadors will pounce on this book, poring over its pages for clues to a way out of the Afghan morass.’

Nick Meo, Sunday Telegraph newspaper (UK) - link