What was it about the men, their attitudes, the country, its institutions and above all the era which had allowed this tragedy to take place? ...they had, for all their brilliance and hubris and sense of themselves, been unwilling to look and learn from the past and they had been swept forward by their belief in the importance of anti-Communism (and the dangers of not paying sufficient homage to it). The question which intrigued me the most was why, why had it happened. So it became very quickly not a book about Vietnam, but a book about America, and in particular about power and success.

During the Taliban's seven-year rule, much of the population experienced restrictions on their freedom and violations of their human rights. Women were banned from jobs, girls forbidden to attend schools or universities.‏⁵⁸ Communists were systematically eradicated and thieves were punished by amputating one of their hands or feet.‏⁵⁹ Opium production was nearly wiped out by the Taliban by 2001.‏⁶⁰