Author Guide · Reportage
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In the spring of 2002, a few months after the fall of the Taliban, the Norwegian reporter Åsne Seierstad moved in with a bookseller and his family in Kabul and lived with them for four months. The book she wrote was translated into more than forty languages; the bookseller sued her, and she won in Norway's Supreme Court. She has since written about the Norwegian terrorist attacks of 2011, two Norwegian sisters who left for Syria, and the Afghans under the returning Taliban. Her newest book, about Russia at war, won all three of Norway's major book prizes. This guide covers all eight of her books in order, with which ones are in English, and where to start.
By Lisanne Swart · 8 books · Reportage · 2000–2025 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Åsne Seierstad has published eight books since 2000: on Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Chechnya, the 2011 terrorist attacks in Norway (One of Us), radicalisation (Two Sisters) and Russia (Ufred, 2025). Seven are available in English; Ufred is so far published in Norwegian.
Where to Start with Åsne Seierstad
If you want the famous one
→ Bokhandleren i Kabul (2002).
If you want her best
→ En av oss (2013).
If you want the most recent
→ Ufred (2025).
If you want Afghanistan today
→ Afghanerne (2022).
All 8 Åsne Seierstad Books, in Order
Med ryggen mot verden
Portraits of Serbs after the Kosovo war. In English it is With Their Backs to the World.
Bokhandleren i Kabul
Four months living with a Kabul bookseller, his two wives and his family after the fall of the Taliban, with rare access to the women's world. It was translated into more than forty languages; the bookseller later sued, and Seierstad won the case in Norway's Supreme Court. In English it is The Bookseller of Kabul.
Hundre og én dag
Baghdad before, during and after the American invasion of 2003, where she was one of the few Western reporters. In English it is A Hundred and One Days.
De krenkede
Chechnya after two wars, through the orphans of Grozny and the people around them. In English it is The Angel of Grozny.
En av oss
The life of the terrorist who killed seventy-seven people in Oslo and on the island of Utøya in July 2011, told alongside the lives of some of the young people he killed. The New York Times named it one of the ten best books of 2015. In English it is One of Us.
To søstre
Two Norwegian-Somali teenage sisters leave Oslo for Syria to join the Islamic State, and their father goes after them. It sold 200,000 copies in Norway. In English it is Two Sisters.
Afghanerne
Three Afghans whose lives cross two decades of war, up to the Taliban's return to power in 2021 and the first year of their rule. In English it is The Afghans (2025).
Ufred
No English edition · available in Norwegian
Russia at war, told through soldiers, mothers, teachers, activists and people across Siberia, from her journeys between 2023 and 2025. It was the second-best-selling book in Norway in 2025, and she became the first author to win the Brage Prize, the Critics' Prize and the Booksellers' Prize for the same book.
How Many Books Did Åsne Seierstad Write?
Eight books between 2000 and 2025, seven of them in English.
- Wars abroad — from With Their Backs to the World (2000) to The Angel of Grozny (2007), and The Afghans. Read the entries →
- Norway — One of Us (2013) and Two Sisters (2016). Read the entries →
- Russia — Ufred (2025). Read the entries →
In What Order to Read Åsne Seierstad
Her books stand alone. The Bookseller of Kabul and The Afghans make a pair, twenty years apart.
A reading path
1. One of Us (2013)
2. The Bookseller of Kabul (2002)
3. Two Sisters (2016)
4. The Afghans (2022)
Quick facts about Åsne Seierstad
- Born
- 10 February 1970, Oslo
- Studied
- Russian, Spanish and history of philosophy, University of Oslo
- Correspondent
- Russia, China, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq
- Prizes
- Brage Prize (2016, 2025); Critics' Prize and Booksellers' Prize (2025); Leipzig Book Award for European Understanding
- Books
- 8, from 2000 to 2025
How Åsne Seierstad Works: Living Inside the Story
Seierstad lives with the people she writes about, for weeks or months, and writes their lives as narrative, often in scenes she reconstructs from their accounts.
Her use of interior monologue in The Bookseller of Kabul was criticised; in later books she has made her own presence and sources more visible.
Frequently asked questions about Åsne Seierstad's books
How many books has Åsne Seierstad written?
Åsne Seierstad has published eight books, from With Their Backs to the World (2000) to Ufred (2025).
Which Åsne Seierstad books are in English?
Seven: With Their Backs to the World, The Bookseller of Kabul, A Hundred and One Days, The Angel of Grozny, One of Us, Two Sisters and The Afghans. Ufred (2025) is so far in Norwegian.
What is One of Us about?
One of Us (2013) tells the story of the 2011 terrorist attacks in Norway, through the life of the perpetrator and of some of his victims.
Footnotes
Bibliography last verified 1 October 2026.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all hers.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
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