Providing an invaluable introductory resource for students investigating the war in Afghanistan, this book highlights the evolution of the conflict through the documents that helped to shape it.

This carefully curated primary source collection includes more than 80 documents from the national and international participants in nearly four decades of conflict that led to the Afghanistan War. Readers will gain an understanding of the macro and micro costs of the war on the participants and the political, social, economic, and military factors that have allowed the fighting to persist. Authored by a former member of the Afghanistan Study Team at the U.S. Army's Combat Studies Institute, readers will gain special insight into the military dynamics of the war in Afghanistan and how the war has changed those who have fought in it.

The book is divided into four chapters that cover the primary phases of the war in Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion and Civil War, 1979-2001; Operation ENDURING FREEDOM and Reconstruction Begins, 2001-2003; The Taliban Return, 2003-2009; and The Surge, Drawdown, and an Uncertain Future, 2009-2017. This structure enables readers to clearly understand how the war evolved and the most significant developments that shaped each period.

• Reflects the subject expertise of its editor, a former member of the US Army's Combat Studies Institute's Afghanistan Study Team
• Collects documents from many of the major participants that cover the political, social, economic, and military evolution of the conflict
• Discusses political, social, and military factors to explain why conflict has persisted in Afghanistan for nearly four decades
• Highlights both the continuity and change in policies in Afghanistan over the past 40 years
• Includes translations of some Taliban documents to give an even broader perspective of the war