@Færd Oh, I think novels can be educational.

Perhaps not at an academic level: you should take any information with a little grain of salt, especially anything with moral dimensions.

I don't know that much about Afghanistan either. I remember reading the Wikipaedia page, though. I seem to remember it was a bit of a feudal mess before the Soviets came; I don't believe the Ottomans ever held it?

The other book was extremely depressing.

And I mean, extremely.