HarperCollins India is thrilled to announce the publication of the keenly anticipated book by investigative journalist Bette Dam – Looking for the Enemy: Mullah Omar and the Unknown Taliban – to be released on 15 December 2021. Previously published in Dutch in 2019 to global acclaim, this is the English edition of the book being published for the first time. Necessary reading for our times, given the evolving geo-politics in the subcontinent with Afghanistan and its takeover by the Taliban being in the headlines, this book, now available to preorder on Amazon, is sure to provide readers with an inside perspective on the workings of the Taliban.
This book took shape in a context where for twenty years, the Taliban was the number one enemy of Western forces in Afghanistan. But it was an enemy that they knew little about. And they knew even less about its founder and leader, Mullah Omar.
With only a fuzzy black-and-white photo of the man, investigative journalist Bette Dam decided to track down the reclusive Taliban chief. But in the course of what had seemed an almost impossible job, she got to know the Taliban inside out, realized how dangerously misinformed the global forces fighting it were, and made a startling discovery about the elusive Omar’s whereabouts.
The outcome of a five-year-long pursuit, Looking for the Enemy is a woman journalist’s epic story that takes the reader deep into Afghanistan as it throws up several unknowns about a movement that is now once again at the helm of the country.
Talking about the book, Bette Dam said, “I know that the findings of this book have made world news, and I am of course happy with the attention my reporting received. But at the same time, I am puzzled: I didn’t do something anyone else could not have done. The story was out on the streets of Afghanistan, but nobody picked it up. Then the question that we in the Western media should ask ourselves is: Why not? Must the enemy of the US government also be seen as the enemy of the Western press? ”
Siddhesh Inamdar, Executive Editor at HarperCollins India, said, “Looking for the Enemy is a brilliantly written and translated, timely and topical book which will give those interested in Afghanistan and in the subcontinent’s geo-political shifts a rare inside look into the Taliban. Moreover, this is a standout book by a woman journalist who lived in and covered Afghanistan extensively, getting to know the Taliban in a way that few other Western/male journalists did.”
Praise from international media for the Dutch edition of the book –
‘Bette Dam was one of the bravest, best-connected and most committed investigative journalists working in Afghanistan during the five years I spent in the country. She was one of the very few Western journalists to gain real access to the Taliban movement, through years of painstaking work building relationships with senior ex-Talibs, and with people around the group’s fringes still connected to its center.’ – Emma Graham-Harrison, The Guardian
‘Dam’s work looks consistent, across the various sources.’ – Afghan independent researcher Borhan Osman, as quoted in The Wall Street Journal
‘Bette is like Carry in Homeland. A fascinating book.’ – The Correspondent
‘The account exposes an embarrassing failure of U.S. intelligence.’ – The Guardian
About the Author – BETTE DAM is a Dutch investigative journalist who made a career working in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. She is currently a lecturer at the prestigious Sciences Po university in Paris. She is also the author of A Man and a Motorcycle: How Hamid Karzai Came to Power.
For further information and queries, please write to: Shabnam.Srivastava@harpercollins.co.in
Pre-order the book here –
Amazon.in – https://amzn.to/3HKhHxC
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