On the Road to Kandahar

From the bestselling author of Al-Qaeda, Jason Burke''s On the Road to Kandahar reveals the true face of Islam in an age of global conflict.

In the summer of 1991 Jason Burke set off to join Kurdish guerillas fighting in Iraq. It was the start of a remarkable journey that would take him from the sands of the Sahara to the highest peaks of the Himalayas, revealing the true complexity and variety of the ''Islamic world''.

Describing encounters with hundreds of people ranging from destitute refugees to senior government ministers, from American snipers to hardened ''mujahideen'', this extraordinary work of reportage is a vivid account of life and death, war and peace, bigotry and ignorance, hate and tolerance.

''Fast-paced ... fascinating''  Sunday Times

''A personal odyssey shot through with vivid description and human sympathy''  New Statesman

''A beautifully written account of a decade spent in Muslim societies ... intensely personal ... absorbing and illuminating''  Daily Mail

''Makes mainstream coverage seem like a caricature ... by refusing to generalize, this illuminating first-hand exploration ... makes it clear the subject is far more complex than most Western commentators like to make out''  Metro

Jason Burke is the South Asia correspondent for the Guardian. He has reported around the world for both the Guardian and the Observer. He is the author of two other widely praised books, both published by Penguin: Al-Qaeda and The 9/11 Wars. He lives in New Delhi.