'This brilliantly edited memoir of former Taliban official Abdul Salam Zaeef, published in Australia for the first time, has been deservedly praised by experts on Afghanistan and the Taliban ... it can only enrich our understanding of the continuing tragedy of Afghanistan.'

Whit Mason (The Australian Literary Review)

'This is a book that should be read by anybody with an interest in why Afghanistan has gone so badly wrong, even if it doesn’t say how to put it right.'

(The Telegraph UK)

'If your government sends soldiers to Afghanistan, you must read this.'

Graeme Smith (Globe and Mail)

'My Life With The Taliban is required reading for anyone interested in where the Afghan conflict is heading.'

(Courier Mail)

‘The next MUST-READ book on Afghanistan.’

Stephen Grey, author of Ghost Planes

‘Just as Afghanistan faces a crucial choice, we have a book that for the first time places readers at the heart of the Taliban's way of thinking—My Life with the Taliban, by Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, the former Taliban minister and ambassador to Pakistan, who spent over four years in Guantánamo prison. Originally published in Pashto, the language of the Pashtuns, the book has been beautifully translated and extensively edited for easier understanding by Alex Strick van Linschoten and Felix Kuehn, two researchers who live in Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban.’

Ahmed Rashid, author of Taliban and Descent into Chaos, writing in the New York Review of Books

'Alex Strick van Linschoten and Felix Kuehn, who live in Kandahar and should be congratulated for their work. The book they have produced is fascinating, full of insights on who the Taliban are and how they came about, and should be required reading for anyone with an interest in the region.'

(The Sunday Times (UK))

'However partisan the book may be, it is a valuable addition to the literature on contemporary Afghan history.'

(Publishers Weekly)

‘Highly significant...will be widely read by specialists and attract general interest. It will greatly appeal to those wanting an Islamist counter to orthodox accounts of the rise and fall of the Taliban.’

Michael Semple, former EU representative in Afghanistan

‘Who are the Taliban? This is the question that has obsessed policy-makers and the public alike in the last decade. In this truly exceptional text, the former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Mullah Zaeef, offers an honest account of his personal world-view and a first-hand history of the Taliban movement. The remarkable editing of Alex Strick van Linschoten and Felix Kuehn allows non-specialists fully to understand the context and cultural references that support Zaeef's narrative.’

Professor Gilles Dorronsoro, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

‘A very interesting memoir. ... Zaeef’s account is, to my knowledge, the first and only memoir penned by an important figure in the Taliban movement.’

Professor Robert Crews, Stanford University

‘[It] presents a unique insight into the worldview of the Taliban. ... No other book published so far in English offers this. ... an important historical document and a captivating read.’

Dr Antonio Giustozzi, LSE, author of Koran, Kalashnikov and Laptop: The Neo Taliban In Afghanistan

'Reading Mullah Zaeef’s book reminded me for the umpteenth time how valuable it is to read about a movement like the Taliban from its own perspective. ... the real "intelligence" in the book lies not in its details but in the texture, perspective, assumptions and narratives that it provides from inside the Taliban leadership - a very rare perspective.'

Steve Coll (New Yorker Blog)

'The book lays out an inside story of the Taliban from its roots up to its collapse, its changing into an anti-Western insurgency and its uncertain future. The book is a must-reading for those American policymakers who want to understand one of the most controversial religious movements in modern times.'

Ehsan Azari (Huffington Post)