Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan 1979-89Oxford University Press, 6. sep. 2011 - 432 sider The story of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan is well known: the expansionist Communists overwhelmed a poor country as a means of reaching a warm-water port on the Persian Gulf. Afghan mujahideen upset their plans, holding on with little more than natural fighting skills, until CIA agents came to the rescue with American arms. Humiliated in battle, the Soviets hastily retreated. It is a great story-but it never happened. In this brilliant, myth-busting account, Rodric Braithwaite, the former British ambassador to Moscow, challenges much of what we know about the Soviets in Afghanistan. He provides an inside look at this little-understood episode, using first-hand accounts and piercing analysis to show the war as it was fought and experienced by the Russians. The invasion was a defensive response to a chaotic situation in the Soviets' immediate neighbor. They intended to establish a stable, friendly government, secure the major towns, and train the police and armed forces before making a rapid exit. But the mission escalated, as did casualties. Braithwaite does not paint the occupation as a Russian triumph. To the contrary, he illustrates the searing effect of the brutal conflict on soldiers, their families, and the broader public, as returning veterans struggled to regain their footing back home. Now available in paperback, Braithwaite carries readers through these complex and momentous events, capturing those violent and tragic days as no one has done before. |
Innhold
3 | |
9 | |
The Disasters of War | 119 |
The Long Goodbye | 247 |
Annexes | 337 |
Notes | 348 |
Sources | 382 |
Bibliography | 385 |
Acknowledgments | 392 |
List of Illustrations | 394 |
396 | |
Andre utgaver - Vis alle
Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979-89 Rodric Braithwaite Ingen forhåndsvisning tilgjengelig - 2011 |
Vanlige uttrykk og setninger
40th Army 860th Independent Afgantsy Afghan army Afghan government Afghanistan aircraft Alexander Gergel ambush Americans Amin Amin’s Andropov armed armoured Babrak Karmal Bagram began Brezhnev Brigade British casualties Chernyaev civilian Colonel commander Communist comrades coup Daud December dedovshchina Defence Division embassy Faisabad fighting fire foreign frontier Gai and Snegirev Gorbachev Greshnov Guards Independent helicopters Herat hundred Independent Motor-rifle Regiment interview Jalalabad Kabul Kalinovsky Kandahar Karmal Kartsev killed kishlak Komsomol Kryuchkov Kunduz later leaders London Lyakhovski Masud Minister Moscow mountains mujahedin Muslim Battalion Najibullah Nekrasov officers operations organisations Pakistan palace Pandsher Valley Parachute Assault Regiment Parcham Party PDPA Politburo political prisoners Pushtun rebels regime road Russians Salang Salang Pass sent Shah Shindand Smolina Soviet military Soviet soldiers Soviet troops Soviet Union special forces SpetsNaz Taliban tanks Taraki thousand told took Tragedia i doblest Ustinov Valeri Shiryaev Varennikov vehicles veterans Vietnam villages Vtorzhenie weapons women wounded