"Veiled Threat is Sally Armstrong's testimony to what she saw in Afghanistan. It not only describes the Taliban's brutality, but also the enduring courage of the women who resisted it for five years. Her account is both panoramic and nuanced: she describes the "dreadfully misogynist interpretation of Islam" that has taken hold in much of the region and then focuses on the individuals who have suffered under its yoke. She tells the story of Dr. Sima Samar, a deputy prime minister who operated secret schools and hospitals for girls, and many others whose small acts of resistance were statements of freedom and fortitude." Forced to wear body-length covering, unable to venture into public by themselves, the women of Afghanistan not only endured, they triumphed. Armstrong's narrative honors their struggles and finally gives them a voice. She places the Taliban within a historical framework of fundamentalist regimes that have used the Koran as a tool of political oppression against women. She also points a finger at the international community for accepting misogyny in the name of culture. Honest and compassionate, wide-reaching and intimate, Veiled Threat is the most detailed account we have of the Taliban's outrages against women.