Wow! eBook
Shadows Over Kabul: An Insider’s Account of the Fall of the Afghan Republic
Author(s): Hamdullah Mohib (Author), Tam Hussein (Author)
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
- Publication Date: October 15, 2026
- Language: English
- Print length: 248 pages
- ISBN-10: 0755658493
- ISBN-13: 9780755658497
Book Description
At the time of the Taliban offensive, Hamdullah Mohib was the Afghan National Security Advisor, the closest man to the Afghan President, Ashraf Ghani. It was Mohib who took the decision to leave during the fall of the Afghan republic. Western journalists blamed the Afghan government for the events of 2021. But this personal eyewitness account tells a new story.
Written with award-winning journalist, Tam Hussein, the book is based on hours of interviews with Hamdullah Mohib between 2021 and 2024. Mohib shares his personal insights as somebody who was born under the shadow of the Soviet invasion, came to Britain as a child refugee, and scaled the echelons of power in Afghanistan to become Afghan ambassador to Washington and National Security Advisor. Covering Afghanistan's history since 1980, and based on Mohib's personal experiences, the book reveals why the downfall of the republic was the result of Western and Afghan leaders' betrayal.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Mohib is as equally open to acknowledging missteps and doubts as he is to praise accomplishments. The effects of foreign intervention in Afghanistan are weighed equally to the actions of Afghan political leaders, Mohib included. Mohib's is a story told with a humility and empathy that breaks through the muddled haze of what might be perceived as propaganda.” ―Small Wars Journal
“Hamdullah Mohib was a key witness to some of the most dramatic events in recent Afghan history, and his recollections of those events, provided here for the first time in detail, are critical building-blocks of a richer historical understanding.” ―William Maley, Emeritus Professor of Diplomacy, The Australian National University, Australia
