The book by the famous Pakistani international journalist Ahmed Rashid is dedicated to the history of the Taliban movement, which almost managed to seize power in Afghanistan during a bloody civil war. The events of September 11, 2001, however, put an end to the victorious march of the Taliban. The special value of the book is that its first edition was published before September 11, and the reader can see the events as an attentive and well-informed observer saw them in the 90s of the last century. The book pays special attention to the geopolitical and geo-economic factors that determined the rise and fall of the Taliban. The book details the competition between oil corporations for influence in Afghanistan and the role that great and small powers have played in the history of Central Asia over the past 10 years.