Hidden Afghanistan
by Pierre Cambon, Jean-François Jarrige, and others

De Nieuwe Kerk/Thames & Hudson, £34.95 (978-90-7865-306-6)
Church Times Bookshop £31.45

This blown-glass flask in the shape of a fish dates from first-century Afghanistan. It is one of the glorious illustrations in a sumptuous book on the history and arts of the country. Many of the treasures came to light through great archaeological excavations undertaken mostly by French scholars; others reappeared from hiding places after the Taliban were overthrown.

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