Buzkashi

Book excerpt: Much has happened since Buzkashi: Game and Power in Afghanistan first appeared in 1982; the past three decades have devastated Afghanistan. What began as the ethnography of a game has grown into a study recognized worldwide as the preeminent analysis of Afghan political dynamics. Replete with significant updates, including a new chapter featuring interviews with warlords regarding their sponsorship of buzkashi, this richly illustrated Third Edition remains the first and only full-scale anthropological examination of a single sport, as well as a beautifully written longitudinal case study about the games social significance. A master storyteller, Azoy first shows how the game of buzkashi is played and introduces readers to its rich history, its roots in tradition, and the implicit and explicit meanings attached to it. Next, readers learn how the author shifted from his Kabul diplomatic life to rural fieldwork in northern Afghanistan and a 40-year journey toward understanding the complexities of this ancient wild card game. Vivid with firsthand descriptions, Azoys book reveals buzkashi as a metaphor for chaos and an arena in the struggle for political control. This new edition, as one reviewer puts it, turns a great book into a classic.