Delusions of Paradise : Escaping the Life of a Taliban Fighter

Author: Banayee, Maiwand

Afghanistan

Published on 24 April 2025 by ICON BOOKS in the United Kingdom.

Hardback | 320 pages
161 x 241 x 29 | 518g

'The strongest opening sentence of any memoir of the 21st century, and the following 300 pages do not disappoint'Frances Wilson, Daily TelegraphWhen Maiwand Banayee was 16, he wanted to become a suicide bomber for the Taliban.

In this inspiring tale of survival and self-discovery, the reader will follow Maiwand's journey down a dark path and his ultimate redemption. Growing up in Kabul amid the Afghan wars, he witnessed atrocities that no child should ever see - rotting corpses, starving families, a neighbourhood torn apart. He escaped to a refugee camp in Pakistan, where religious militants began the gradual grooming of Maiwand and other Afghan boys. These confused and traumatised children were indoctrinated, radicalised and prepared to die in the name of a religious war. But Maiwand escaped this life. Fleeing Afghanistan, he had a life-altering crisis of faith, confidence and meaning, finding new purpose and rebuilding himself.

Maiwand taught himself how to read and write in English, and here tells his astonishing story in crystalline prose. Delusions of Paradise offers a powerful warning about the dangers of radical religion, and is a stunning celebration of self-determination and redemption from an important new voice.