Opium Season

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Opium Season: A Year on the Afghan Frontier
Cover of US edition
Author	Joel Hafvenstein
Cover artist	Georgianna Goodwin
Country	USA
Language	English
Subject(s)	Afghanistan, opium trade, travel
Publisher	The Lyons Press
Publication date	November 1, 2007
Media type	Print (Hardcover)
Pages	336
ISBN	ISBN 978-1-59921-131-2

Opium Season is the story of a young American working on the brutal fault line where the war on terror meets the war on drugs.

Contents 1 Overview 2 Excerpt 3 Chapters 4 External Links

[edit] Overview

Joel Hafvenstein signed up for a year in Afghanistan in the heart of the country's opium trade, running an American-funded aid program to help thousands of opium poppy farmers make a legal living, and to win hearts and minds away from the former Taliban government. The author was soon caught up in the deadly intrigues of Helmand's drug trafficking warlords.

[edit] Excerpt

A GOOD IDEA GONE TERRIBLY WRONG.

"We're getting out, mate." Charles's composure was belied by the taut lines in his face and the two Afghan guards flanking him, their rifles unslung and ready. "Get your things. If what we're hearing from Zabul is true, we've been sitting here like bloody ducks for too long already."

If true, the rumors from Zabul province confirmed that someone was trying to kill us, but we didn't yet know who: the struggling remnants of the Taliban, opium smugglers who found our work an inconvenience, or local militia commanders with some unknown grudge. We didn't know if they planned more attacks, or if they could strike us in the city of Lashkargah itself. So we were running. There was a small U.S. military outpost on the edge of town, next to the graveyard. By the afternoon our office and staff houses would be empty of everyone but guards, and our Western staff would be inside a bunker.

-From the Prologue

[edit] Chapters

Prelude: The End Part One: Planting Little America Yaqub City of Dust Mullah Omar's Drought Into the Minefield Salaam to Helmand A Million Dollars a Mile The Place of the Soldiers Jack of All Trades The Babaji Abduction Christmas in Helmand The Warlord's Vendetta

Part Two: Flowering Guns and Poppies New California Traveling Difficulties The Way of Love Good Cop, Bad Cop Politics as Usual The Royal Bungalow The Indispensable Warlords Back on Track Gunfire in the Backyard

Part Three: Harvest Valley of Death Defining Success Three Days in May In Limbo Helmand at War Badakhshan Sources Index

[edit] External Links

• Official book site
• More about the book, Opium Season
• The New York Times book review
• On Line Opinion - Australia book review
• Joel Hafvenstein video interview on The Interviewpoint: part 1, part 2