Meet with Chris Woolf, author of the new book about Afganistan: Bumbling Through the Hindu Kush: A Memoir of Fear and Kindness in Afghanistan

Kings Bay Library is inviting you to register and attend a virtual Meet with the Author program. This time we proudly present a book by Chris Woolf: Bumbling Through the Hindu Kush. A Memoir of Fear and Kindness in Afghanistan which was published in October 2021. 

What happens when a regular person accidentally finds themselves lost in the middle of a war?

In 1991, BBC journalist Chris Woolf traveled to Afghanistan. The government in Kabul was fighting for survival, after the withdrawal of its superpower patron; in this case, the Soviet Union. The parallels to today are extraordinary.

Woolf was visiting a colleague to see what the life of a foreign correspondent was like. They hitched a ride with an aid convoy and bumbled straight into the war. They kept going, despite the horror and terror. There was no choice.

Amid the darkness, Woolf discovered the generosity and hospitality of ordinary Afghans.

They became the first journalists to pass through the battle lines from Kabul to meet legendary warlord Ahmed Shah Massoud, and even Soviet POW/MIAs.

Woolf shares an intimate portrait of first encounters with death and real fear. He explores the lingering effects of trauma, and explains how he put his experience to good use.

He introduces readers to just enough of Afghanistan’s history, geography, culture and politics for readers to hopefully understand what’s going on around him.  He also makes a few comparisons and contrasts between the situation in Afghanistan then and now.

AVAILABLE AS PAPERBACK, KINDLE E-BOOK, AND AUDIOBOOK

Chris Woolf was a broadcast journalist with the BBC World Service for 34 years. He worked in London, Afghanistan and southern Africa, but mostly in the United States, where he became News Editor for public radio’s main international news show, “The World.” He was on-air for many years as the show’s “History Guy.”

In addition to writing, Woolf also runs a professional voiceover company, The Voice Depot. In his spare time, he researches and writes history, and explores family history. His passion is seeking the truth, whether in journalism, history or genealogy.

He served in the UK’s Territorial Army as an infantry soldier during the Cold War. He now lives in the United States.