Afghanistan

A blow-by-blow accounting of the military history of Afghanistan, labeled ‘The Graveyard of Empires' for a reason.

Tanner does more to illustrate the history of this region than any other work I've come upon. Cited references, thoroughly conducted research, and what appears to be years of difficult scavenging the world round for information. The information is presented clearly and without embellishment. Topping it all off, the author offers his personal suggestion of how the world should treat Afghanistan moving forward; note that this information finalizes circa 2002.

Overall, this is stellar, high-brow research with easily accessed information.