Structure

The Afghanistan Papers has six parts, not including its Epigraph, Dedication, and a ten-page Foreword in which the author explains his motivation for writing the book and sets some modest historical backdrop to his doing so. The book also contains an informative “Note on Sources” post-script and a number of glossy photos. As a work of historical editorializing, it contains a lengthy endnotes and bibliography as well as photo credits.

The book is composed almost entirely of selected quotes from American political participants in the war in Afghanistan sewn together by the author’s commentary, which is bland and uninformative for the most part. The main editorial intervention of the author is to periodize war from the quotes that have been compiled. Part One of the book covers the period from 2001 to 2002; Part Two covers the period from 2003 to 2005; Part Three covers the period from 2006 to 2008; Part...