This year, the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, effectively disregarding all the efforts by the Americans to establish order there. For decades, this country has been engulfed in war, serving as a battleground for various forces.
In the fall of 2001, journalist Alla Shevelkina traveled there as part of a team from a French television channel. During her stay, she decided to keep a diary, documenting the events of each day. Of course, over the past 20 years, the country has experienced much, but the diary shows that even then, it was a shocking medieval world for people from so-called civilized nations.
I came across this book on the recommendation of Viktor Shenderovich, just a few days after the Taliban entered Kabul. Again.
From the description, it promised to be an honest and profound immersion into that very medieval reality during the days when the Taliban last ruled Kabul. I was very curious to get a glimpse of life in the country, not through official news reports, which often craft stories for dramatic or sentimental effect (sadly, this is true).
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