Abdul Salam Zaeef

My Life with the Taliban is a primary document rather than an argument. Zaeef fought the Soviets as a teenager, helped found the Taliban movement, and served as its ambassador to Pakistan until Pakistan handed him to American forces in 2002 despite his diplomatic standing. He spent roughly four years at Guantanamo and was released in 2005. Alex Strick van Linschoten and Felix Kuehn translated and edited the book, and their notes carry the corrections and the context the text itself does not offer. It is set on university reading lists because first-hand accounts from that side barely exist, and it should be read as testimony from an interested party, which is what it is.