Fascinating and remarkable, a unique account from Mills in his best journo-GI-egghead mode, ducking bullets as he dispenses advise on how to solve the Afghanistan conundrum. he pulls no punches in his critique of how the allied forces have gone about state-building and peacekeeping there — Peter Fabricius

From Africa to Afghanistan details Greg Mills’ four months as special adviser to the Commander of the Ninth International Security Assistance Force (ISAF IX) in Afghanistan to help establish and run a civilian think-tank, the Prism Group, within the headquarters in Kabul. It highlights the difficulty of rebuilding a failed state through external assistance, a lesson which translates across borders and continents to Africa and elsewhere. Mills, the ‘adventurer-academic’ and ‘soldier-analyst’, has managed to write a title that is entertaining, informative and thought-provoking all at the same time.

Do the Afghans really want peace? Does the international community really know what it is doing in Afghanistan? Perhaps both questions are being asked too late, but if there is still a chance success then read Mills to find out why both parties urgently need to read this book — Professor Christopher Coker, London School of Economics, author of The Future of War

Greg Mills is Directo­r of the Brenthurst Foundation, Johannesburg.