An award-winning foreign correspondent who contributed to a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times series reveals the secret Afghan custom of disguising girls as boys to improve their prospects, discussing its political and social significance as well as the experiences of its practitioners.

Includes Extra Libris content which includes, A Note from the Author, I Was a Bacha Posh : The Story of Faheema, A Conversation with Jenny Nordberg, and A Reader's Guide (pages 355-366).

Part One.Boys -- Chapter 1. The rebel mother -- Chapter 2. The Foreigner -- Chapter 3. The chosen one -- Chapter 4. The son maker -- Chapter 5. The politician -- Chapter 6. The underground girls -- Chapter 7. The naughty one -- Part Two. Youth -- Chapter 8. The tomboy -- Chapter 9. The candidate -- Chapter 10. The pashtun tea party -- Chapter 11. The future bride -- Chapter 12. The sisterhood -- Part Three. Men -- Chapter 13. The bodyguard -- Chapter 14. The romantic -- Chapter 15. The driver -- Chapter 16. The warrior -- Chapter 17. The refusers -- Chapter 18. The Goddess -- Part Four. Fathers -- Chapter 19. The defeated -- Chapter 20. The castoff -- Chapter 21. The wife -- Chapter 22. The Father.