pt. 1. History of the Taliban movement. Kandahar 1994: the origins of the Taliban ; Herat 1995: God's invincible soldiers ; Kabul 1996: commander of the faithful ; Mazar-e-Sharif 1997: massacre in the north ; Bamiyan 1998-99: the never-ending war -- pt. 2. Islam and the Taliban. Challenging Islam: the new-style fundamentalism of the Taliban ; Secret society: the Taliban's political and military organization ; A vanished gender: women, children and Taliban culture ; High on heroin: drugs and the Taliban economy ; Global jihad: the Arab-Afghans and Osama Bin Laden -- pt. 3. The new great game. Dictators and oil barons: the Taliban and Central Asia, Russia, Turkey and Israel ; Romancing the Taliban 1: the battle for pipelines 1994-96 ; Romancing the Taliban 2: the battle for pipelines 1997-99, The USA and the Taliban ; Master or victim: Pakistan's Afghan war ; Shia versus Sunni: Iran and Saudi Arabia ; Conclusion: the future of Afghanistan ; The Taliban resurgent 2000-2009.