British documentary filmmaker Asad Qureshi works in the world's most dangerous places. When he set off to film secret interviews with Taliban commanders, the award-winning filmmaker found himself on the wrong end of the camera lens, with a gun at his temple and a price of 10 million US dollars on his head. Asad would spend 165 days in captivity before his family was able to pay his ransom and secure his release. The negotiations and eventual release were coordinated by Al Qaeda intermediaries. Throughout his time as a hostage, Qureshi was tortured and humiliated, as were his fellow prisoners, several of whom would not return. This is a true, first-person account of Taliban captivity in Waziristan, the dangerous border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Above all, it provides a stark reminder of the privilege of freedom.

"They say truth is stranger than fiction. Asad Qureshi's account of his escape from the jaws of death certainly fits the bill. His journey into the heart of darkness, which resulted in the deaths of two of his colleagues, has all the ingredients of a Hollywood blockbuster – betrayal, suspense, gripping action – made all the more impressive by his honest, down-to-earth prose." 

--DR SAFEER AWAN, Rector National University of Modern Languages (NUML) Pakistan

“A thrilling first-hand account of barbarism at the hands of monsters...a masterpiece which reveals the ghastly nature of groups whose corruption of Islam is wreaking havoc across the world.” 

--TAHA COBURN-KUTAY, Business Executive
"A powerful, absorbing memoir of a brave journalist lured into a terrorist trap. Accounts of captivity are not unfamiliar, yet Asad Qureshi has an iron grip on the reader's attention with a style that is so impressively raw it places this biography
head and shoulders above similar titles. His first book, this exceptionally realistic narrative is packed with emotion, giving the reader a crystal-clear picture of what it’s like to walk in the shoes of a human being with the constant threat of death
hanging over him. A five-star read." 

--ÄJA MOSLEH, Television Producer
“Harrowing, gripping, frightening and ultimately redemptive, 165 Days Prisoner of the Taliban is a haunting tale of isolation that takes the reader on a searing, soul-searching journey into the heart of evil.” 

--ALAN CLARK, PR Executive

A protégé of famed British film director John Schlesinger, Asad Qureshi started work in the film industry in 1978 and has worked variously as assistant director, director, and producer. He was kidnapped in March 2010 in Waziristan, the dangerous border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Asad was released in September 2010 through family negotiations after 165 days of captivity. He heads up the independent production company Avant-garde Films.