A moving retelling of the humble origins of the Taliban movement and their deeply conflicted moral journey.
Chaos reigns in the wake of the collapse of Afghanistan’s Soviet-backed government. In the rural, warlord-ruled south, a student is badly beaten at a checkpoint run by bandits. His teacher, who leads a madrassa for orphans left behind by Afghanistan’s civil war, leads his students back to the checkpoint and forces the bandits out. His actions set in motion a chain of events that will change the balance of power in his country and send shock waves through history.
Amid villagers seeking protection and warlords seeking power, the Mullah’s influence grows. Against the backdrop of anarchy dominated by armed factions, he devotes himself to building a house of peace with his students — or, as they are called in Pashto, taliban. Part intrigue, part war narrative, and part historical drama, This Shall Be a House of Peace charts their breathtaking ambition, transformation, and rise to power.
It’s easy to look at the Taliban as a faceless, fanatic menace, but This Shall Be A House Of Peace offers us something different: humanity and understanding. Phil Halton has told a story that feels both mythic and direct. — Matt Lennox, author of The Carpenter and Knucklehead
This Shall Be a House of Peace won me fully from the first page. I could taste the dust of Afghanistan again, could see the hills and villages and the people in them. If we could go back in time and have the soldiers and generals of the last 18 years of war read this book, perhaps we could have come up with better outcomes for Afghanistan than we have to date. — Dr. Kristian C. Gustafson, Senior Lecturer, Centre for Intelligence & Security Studies at Brunel University
