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

Enduring the Freedom: A Rogue Historian in Afghanistan by Sean M. Maloney. Potomac Books (http://www.potomacbooksinc.com), 22841 Quicksilver Drive, Dulles, Virginia 20166, 2006, 320 pages, $22.00 (hardcover), $15.16 (softcover).

A military historian with a degree from Temple University, Dr. Sean M. Maloney, who served as a Canadian army officer, currently teaches in the War Studies Program of Canada's Royal Military College. In the spring of 2003, he traveled to Afghanistan to study operations of the International Security-Assistance Force (ISAF). In Enduring the Freedom: A Rogue Historian in Afghanistan, he documents his time with the ISAF in Kabul and with US forces in Bagram and Kandahar.

For the most part, Enduring the Freedom is a wellwritten, enjoyable account that provides the reader with a great deal of insight into the largely unreported story of US and allied operations in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban. By far the best part deals with the author's time in Afghanistan with various national forces. A good storyteller, Maloney uses his eye for detail to vividly describe the Afghan countryside and his ear for dialogue to recount conversations with soldiers, bureaucrats, and others in a way that rings true. The stories about his time on patrol give the reader a real appreciation for and insight into the mission in Afghanistan. For example, Maloney recounts going on patrol with a squad from a German battalion of Gebirgsjaegers (mountain hunters). As they drive through Kabul, an Afghan taxi strikes one of their vehicles. Although the taxi receives only a tiny scratch, the driver immediately draws a crowd by loudly demanding compensation from the Germans and pushing at members of the patrol. The German leader, a junior noncommissioned officer (NCO), quickly takes charge and tells the driver that he must accompany the patrol to the local police station to discuss compensation. Upon arrival, the taxi driver is taken to a back room and soon returns to apologize to the Germans. The German NCO declines to accept the apology because of the driver's insincerity. After another trip to the back room, the Afghan offers a more acceptable apology, and both he and the German patrol return to work. This episode illustrates the difficulty of the mission in Afghanistan, which requires junior officers and NCOs ...