A provocative introduction to the hugely transformative and troubled recent history of Afghanistan, rocked by civil war and fundamentalist Islam, and shown here in photos that distil the simple beauty of the place and its people alongside the horror of state-sanctioned human rights abuses. Illustrated with 88 duotone photos. 'Grazda's photographs eloquently depict the women of Afghanistan gradually being reduced to shrouded ghosts in a country where they were once equal citizens' - Mavis Leno