{"product_id":"twenty-years-hope-war-and-the-betrayal-of-an-afghan-generation","title":"Twenty Years:  Hope, War, and the Betrayal of an Afghan Generation","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNo country was more deeply affected by 9\/11 than Afghanistan. The United States and its allies responded to al-Qaeda’s attacks on New York City and Washington, DC, by toppling the Taliban regime and installing a new government under Hamid Karzai, and an entire generation of Afghans grew up amid the upheavals that followed. As a foreign correspondent for \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, Sune Engel Rasmussen spent more than a decade in the company of this new generation, and in \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eTwenty Years\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e he tells its story. His vibrant cast of young Afghans includes Zahra, who returns from abroad with high hopes for her liberated country but then must escape a brutal marriage and rebuild her life, and Omari, who joins the Taliban at the age of fourteen to protect the honor of his village and nation and winds up wrestling with doubt and the trauma of war after achieving victory. We also encounter Parasto, who risks her life running clandestine girls’ schools under the new Taliban regime, and Fahim, a rags-to-riches tycoon who is forced to flee.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThrough the eyes of these and other young people, we see the United States and its coalition bring new opportunities and wealth while also permitting and presiding over the corruption, warlordism, and social division that led to the Taliban’s return to power. The result is a searing narrative of how Afghans intimately experienced the initial promise of freedom, democracy, and safety; fought with one another over its meaning; and then witnessed its collapse. Written with flair and compassion, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eTwenty Years\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e offers deep insight into a country betrayed by the West and the Taliban alike.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Macmillan","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50521370231064,"sku":"9781250390486","price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0824\/2852\/6872\/files\/9781250390486_58495.jpg?v=1753891457","url":"https:\/\/www.clearysbookstore.com\/products\/twenty-years-hope-war-and-the-betrayal-of-an-afghan-generation","provider":"Cleary's Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}