Even as the Taliban was growing in power, however, the Afghan people resisted the regime in many ways. Although some of this resistance involved hundreds—even thousands—of Afghan people, many examples of effective resistance occurred almost every day on a smaller scale.

"They Haven't Crushed Our Spirit"

One form of resistance centered around the burka; although women wore it, many of them despised it. Women who, before the Taliban came to power, were doctors, lawyers, or teachers and were used to wearing business suits found that they felt invisible in the baglike garment.

Although refusing to wear the burka would certainly have resulted in a beating or imprisonment, some women found pleasure in visiting an "underground" beauty parlor. Of course, the operation was illegal because the women who ran it were not supposed to be working—and because...