From the frantic bazaars of Kabul to sleepy Jalalabad; from the Al Qaeda bunkers at Tora Bora to the mystical mosque of Mazar-i-Sharif, across the most rugged mountains of Central Asia to the destroyed Buddhas of Bamiyan; from the quiet of the Uzbek villages of Faryab to the spectacle of Band-e Amir, a lake of clear blue water at 3,000 metres. Venturi’s journey reveals a gravely wounded country with a very ancient culture and a moving beauty. The pictures are completed by an unpublished text by Alberto Cairo, Mariam’s Story, written for this volume. The book is published in collaboration with InterSOS, the non-governmental organisation that has worked for years in Afghanistan.