Ebook: Crossing the River Kabul

Baryalai Popal sees his Western-educated professors at Kabul University replaced by communists. He witnesses his classmates "disappearing." The communist takeover uproots Popal from his family and home. Thus begins Crossing the River Kabul, the true story of Popal's escape from Afghanistan and his eventual return. Kevin McLean weaves together Popal's stories in this memoir, which is also a fascinating look at Afghanistan from the viewpoint of Popal and generations of his politically influential family. From the exile of Popal's grandfather from Kandahar in 1898to his father's tutoring of two boys who as adults would play important roles in Afghanistan—one as king and the other as president—to his uncle's presence at the fateful meeting that led to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Popal'sfamily history is intertwined with that of his nation. Popal fled his country following the Russian invasion of Afghanistan in 1980. After being imprisoned as a spy in Pakistan,...