Told through the eyes of witnesses to the fall of Kabul, Walkley award-winning journalist Andrew Quilty's debut publication offers a remarkable record of this historic momentAs night fell on 15 August 2021, the Taliban entered Kabul,capital of Afghanistan. After a 20-year conflict with the United States,its Western allies and a proxy Afghan government, the Islamic militantgroup once aligned with al Qaeda was about to bury yet another foreignfoe in the graveyard of empires. And for the US, the superpower, thiswas yet another foreign disaster. As cities and towns fell to the Talibanin rapid succession, Western troops and embassy staff scrambled to fleea country of which its government had lost control. To the world, Kabulin August looked like Saigon in 1975.August in Kabul is the story of how America's longest mission came toan abrupt and humiliating end, told through the eyes of Afghans whoselives have been turned upside down- a young woman who harboursdreams of a university education; a presidential staffer who worksdesperately to hold things together as the government collapses aroundhim; a prisoner in the notorious Bagram Prison who suddenly findshimself free when prison guards abandon their post.Andrew Quilty was one of a handful of Western journalists whostayed in Kabul as the city fell. This is his first-hand account of thosedramatic final days.
