State and Tribe in Nineteenth-Century Afghanistan: The Reign of Amir Dost Muhammad Khan

‘No future historian of nineteenth century Afghanistan will wish to write about that country without first reading this book. Her excellent review of ethnographic studies gives confidence in her judgement and her conclusion is balanced. A convincing picture of the techniques of tribla management emerges, carefully adapted to the different circumstances of each group This is a book which can be read at two levels: first as major collection of information about the reign of Dost Muhammad, superseding all previous versions and secondly as a very sophisticated examination of what it meant to rule what for simplicity may be termed “a tribal state”. Either way it should certainly be read.’ – M.E. Yapp, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society