Introduction

Going into the book, none of us have had any direct experience with the culture being discussed. Our knowledge of Afghanistan's culture, geography and politics is limited to what we've learned in previous history/geography classes. We also have some knowledge of Afghanistan from news coverage of the war going on there.

Based on the brief reading we’ve done of the book up to this point, it seems that the book focuses a lot on the treatment and status of women in Afghani culture. As women ourselves, we may be slightly biased against the culture because of what seems to us to be poor treatment of women. As college students, we are independent and career-minded, making it difficult for us to accept the almost second class status of women in the book.

We are interested in reading this book because we want to learn more about the culture. Despite the plethora of news coverage about Afghanistan following the U.S. invasion in 2001, we, like the majority of Americans, are not that familiar with the culture. Hopefully by gaining a fundamental understanding of Afghanistan’s culture and recent history, we will better understand the barriers obstructing peace in the country.