Enduring the Freedom: A Rogue Historian in Afghanistan (review)

There is nothing like a war to get books published about previously obscure climes. Journalists recently have written a lot of books on current events in Afghanistan. Journalists are good at surface reporting, but often lack the language, background, and historical understanding to do in-depth analysis. Most journalists have never served in the military and their understanding of the military is peripheral at best. Finally, most journalists have degrees in journalism—not in history, anthropology, archaeology, or regional studies—so they are not initially equipped to analyze foreign areas. With enough time in the region, many journalists get better but not all rise to Steve Coll's or Sarah Chayes's standards. This book is not by a junior journalist. It is written by a historian. Dr. Sean Maloney is a former Canadian Army combat arms officer who teaches in the Canadian Royal Military College War Studies Programme and is the strategic studies adviser to the Canadian Defence Academy. He is used to living rough and getting dirty. Sean went to Afghanistan, lived rough, got dirty, and came home to write about it.

Sean provides a military historian's perspective of Afghanistan's recent history from before 9/11 through his first visit in 2003. Since he is Canadian, he spent a good deal of time with Canadian Forces as well as with the Dutch, Germans, Irish, Rumanians, and other members of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). He also went on operations with the 82nd Airborne Division and met with prominent and ordinary Afghans.

Most new books on Afghanistan are about U.S. forces. Sean has written about U.S. forces, but he also writes about the ISAF forces—a group that is seldom included in current books or press reporting. Sean's book is contemporary history, a travelogue, and a fun read. Sean is a serious historian with an engaging and aggressive writing style. He covers the good and bad with a measured sense of proportionality.

The situation in Afghanistan has changed since Sean wrote this book. NATO has taken charge of the South and more international forces have arrived in country. Britain, Canada, and the Netherlands are in a hotly contested area where they do more fighting than nation building. ISAF's mission is changing. When future historians write the history of Operation Enduring Freedom (the U.S. effort in Afghanistan), they will also look at the evolving mission of ISAF and NATO. Sean's book will prove valuable to this effort. Historians usually wait for the dust to settle over an event before they begin their analysis. Sean has not waited and his efforts support the profession. He provides a good look at the ISAF mission through 2003 and the changing U.S. mission as U.S. forces began pushing out from the airfields and into the countryside. I recommend this book.