In preparation for a military deployment to the country I had been doing extensive reading on all aspects of Afghanistan, which can get depressing. So I picked up the book in the hopes of getting a current, positive view of the country by someone with first-hand knowledge and a appreciation for the culture, and was not disappointed. If you are looking for the fastest way to get your head around its complicated history, the first 60 pages hits all the critical events neatly and is probably the best short history I've come across. As someone not planning on utilizing the actual travel information, the rest of the book serves as a good introduction to the various regions and major cities and gives you an appreciation for the geospacial relationships within and the layout of the country, its topography, and the general flow of its cities. The traveler specific information (transportation, lodging, food, costs, etc) seem very detailed and complete, with many options per city and reviews, addresses, phone etc for each. Seems like if would be very usable to a traveler. Throughout it ties in cultural as it applies to the modern westerner and by the end you'll have a pretty good frame of reference for further study. Certainly a must for anyone visiting as a tourist (but remember the security situation is quite different now, as the book also warns), and I think also an important read for the soldier that can give you the quick look at modern Afghanistan and also its history from a perspective we're generally not provided.