Baba Jan's Chronicles
 M. Kabir Younoszai
 (Reviewed by The Editor - Rebecca Brown)
 2002 Millennial Mind Publishing
  ISBN: 1589821114
Amazon's price is: $22.00
Amazon's book prices can change without notice

The Life of a 20th Century Afghan.

Baba Jan, the beloved patriarch of an Afghan family was known to most as General Sahib. Born in Kabul in 1910, his life was colored by a tumultuous political climate. He taught his children & grandchildren the history of a proud & tortured country through the touching stories of his life.

M. Kabir Younoszai shares his father's remembrances in firsthand accounts of the religion, customs & history of his people & their fabled nation. As we wade through the confusion of our post-9/11 world, Baba Jan's insights into the land he called home, hold much significance for us.

Be prepared to be transported to another time, another place & another way of thinking & speaking about life here on earth. These are the remembrances of a gentleman whose childhood began before the World War I in a land far, far away from our Western ways, & his country's history of World War II, The Pathans, Muslims & Hindus, & border disputes.

From his Early Years in Kabul, his thoughts on Islam, Afghanistan, & the Taliban to the way people dressed, & loved & married, about slavery & kings, college life & the rise & fall of the family fortunes, so intimately entwined with the kings of Kabul.

In 1946 Baba Jan returned to his homeland to a new job as a diplomat privy to the politics of a new king & a new country. & then the superpowers set their sights on Afghanistan & life changed again until in 1963 Baba Jan leaves forever the land of his heart, to travel the world & settle in Switzerland, while his son makes a life for himself in America.

Do not be discouraged by the spare & plain language of Baba Jan's stories. Allow your imagination to fill in the color, noise & substance, for these memories are precious, enlightening & wholly authentic.

I am truly glad to have been given the opportunity to sit at this gentle patriarch's knee to hear his stories, both on the public stage & in the privacy of domestic life.
(05/11/03)

Rebecca