Books : From Africa to Afghanistan: With Richards and Nato to Kabul
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 320
EAN: 9781868144501
ISBN: 186814450X
Label: Witwatersrand University Press
Manufacturer: Witwatersrand University Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 260
Publication Date: August 31, 2007
Publisher: Witwatersrand University Press
Sales Rank: 453880
Studio: Witwatersrand University Press
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
"From Africa to Afghanistan" details Greg Mills' four months as special adviser to General David Richards, the British Commander of the Ninth International Security Assistance Force (ISAF IX) in Afghanistan, to help establish and run a civilian think-tank, the Prism Group, within the headquarters in Kabul.It highlights the difficulty of rebuilding a failed state through external assistance, a lesson which translates across borders and continents to Africa and elsewhere.Mills, the 'adventurer-academic' and 'soldier-analyst', has managed to write a book that is entertaining, informative and thought-provoking all at the same time.
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
The title of Mills' book has an imperial ring to it, as Christopher Coker of the London School of Economics tells us, for there is something intrepid about the author, who traveled from his native South Africa to Afghanistan to serve as a senior civilian advisor to General David Richards, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) commander from May 2006 to February 2007.
"I want to rub off my British habits and go off with Feisal for a bit. Amusing job and all new country." Mills here quotes T. E. Lawrence writing to a colleague in 1916. Mills is a South African academic although at times it seems he would like to have been a soldier. His memoir shows that he understands war better than most and saw it up close in his many journeys beyond International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) headquarters in Kabul. Mills is a bold traveler, and like Lawrence, his interest flares. He projects a passionate commitment to the success of the mission. Taking a cue from Lawrence, Mills entitles one of his chapters "The Eighth Pillar of Wisdom" and offers an illuminating analysis of the problems facing the West, not only in Afghanistan but also in Iraq, which he attributes to policymakers' inadequate knowledge of those countries' histories. His is some of the best writing on counterinsurgency from someone who witnessed it in the course of frequent visits into the field.
It is an amusing read at times, as he offers us mini-vignettes of life in the cantonment -- originally ... Read More
Rating:  -
I was excited to purchase this book since I had served in Afghanistan. I perhaps mistakenly believed the work would be more about General David Richards and his leadership of ISAF. Instead it is the story of Greg Mills who served as a cvilian advisor to the General. That said, I would describe the book as a series of vingettes and impressions of his time in country. He does not go into any depth on any one topic and I feel a reader who is not as familiar with the mission as I was would want more background. That is why I rated it with 2 stars. In the end, I enjoyed reading about people or places I had been and seeing another view of this important mission.
If you are really interested in Afghanistan and NATO then pick it up.
A Biograghy of General Richards would be an interesting read. Perhaps someone will write that.
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