Masood Farivar was ten years old when his childhood in peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan was shattered by the Soviet invasion in 1979. Although he was born into a long line of religious and political leaders who shaped his nation's history for centuries, Farivar fled to Pakistan with his family and came of age in a madrassah for refugees, where he was introduced to Islamic fundamentalism and became a devout Muslim. At eighteen, he defied his parents and returned home to join the jihad, fighting beside not only the Afghan mujahideen but also Arab and Pakistani volunteers.Farivar was stationed at Tora Bora and spent the next two years training for, fighting in, and reporting on the conflict. He learned to gauge the proximity of enemy fire in order to say his prayers between shellings. He aided in the takeover of a Soviet garrison that killed more than one hundred Communist soldiers. He shared a room with dead comrades when there was nowhere else to sleep. Toward the end of his time at the front, Farivar was introduced to Carlos Mavroleon, an enigmatic international adventurer from a privileged background who had converted to Islam and was fighting with the mujahideen. Mavroleon took Farivar under his wing and encouraged him to apply to Harvard.After the Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan in 1989, Farivar made his way from the caves of Tora Bora to the rolling green lawns of elite American schools. His first stop was the Lawrenceville School, a private academy in suburban New Jersey, where he spent a year shoring up his academic credentials before moving on to Harvard. At every turn there were culture shocks: girls in short skirts, radically different ideas about personal hygiene, plentiful drugs and alcohol. After graduating from Harvard with a degree in history and politics, Farivar traveled the United States by car and finally moved to New York City to pursue a career in journalism. During his ten years in the city, he witnessed the horror of 9/11, made several heartbreaking trips home to visit his family, and was ultimately propelled home for good in 2007. He now serves his country by running a national radio program.At a time when the war in Afghanistan is the focus of renewed attention, and its outcome is more crucial than ever to our own security, Farivar draws on his unique experience as a native Afghan, a former mujahideen fighter, and a longtime U.S. resident to provide unprecedented insight into the ongoing collision between Islam and the West. He paints a vibrant portrait of his family and his nation's history; exposes the world of militant Islam by taking us deep inside the madrassahs; vividly recounts his experiences on the battlefield; and movingly conveys the culture shock of a Muslim living in contemporary America. Read Less