Russia’s War in Afghanistan (Men-at-Arms, 178)

An excellent introduction to the Soviet-Afghan war. If you want details, then read wider. But if you want a quick account, highlighting the main points of the conflict, the main characters, the purpose and its climax, then I recommend this book. If you are a history buff who wants quick access to conflicts, I recommend the Men-at-Arms series.

great golden oldie!very pleased!!!

This book is far better at combining all of the basic equipment and tactics used during Russia's war with Afghanistan, than were those about the Yugoslav wars. Well worth getting.

Very thin book. Simple and whitout to many photos. The autor take position against Soviet Union. I don't recomend it.

Great and informative book

This book is mainly outdated but it has its value a a historical document. The author makes a good job in presenting both sides, especially the many different Afghan guerrilla groups. The most interesting aspect, in my opinion, is the author's prediction (the book was written in 1986) that the war would last some 20 years and that nobody ever won a war of atrittion against Russia (Soviet Union at the time but the author keep calling it Russia); the author also concedes that the Mujahideen are tough fighters and should not be underestimated. This book makes for a good journalistic account.The book contains information on the Soviet forces, the Army of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA) and the many Mujahideen groups. The life of both sides were mainly miserable and the fighting was ruthless. The Soviets were unforgiving and used indiscriminate firepower in their search for the elusive "Dushman" ("Phantoms"), but they not only killed civilians as collateral damage, they completely waped out villages to show the might of the Soviet Union in an attempt to cower the Afghan population; this "depopulation policy" did prevent the guerrillas from getting food and shelter in the affected regions but ultimately backfired as it hardened the anti-Soviet sentiment. The DRA was a poorly trained, poorly equipped and poorly led fighting force. It is no surprise that its morale was low and their performance in battle was mainly ineffective. The Mujahideen are a confuse lot of chieftains, ex-military, civilian-turned-guerrilla and CIA-trained militants. As the author says, the Afghans receive a gun when they are considered men but, regardless of their fanfarronic claimings, their marksmanship is poor. The discipline of the Mujahideen is also very poor, as its weapons handling; but he is determined and fanatical. The descentralized command structure of the anti-Soviet forces makes it difficult for both good cooperation and for the Soviets to crush the opposition. At the time of writing the Afghans badly needed anti-air weapons to deal with the Soviet airmobile tactics and the Stingers were entering the battlefield. For a good study on the tactics used by the Soviets and Mujahideen I recommend:-"The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan" and,-"The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War"The plates in this book are as good as usual. There is a plate showing a Soviet soldier wearing an NBC suit, as the Soviets used chemical weapons against the guerrillas and the civilian population alike. In another plate, a Mujahideen is hiding a tank stolen (or bought) from the DRA. Both sides made extensive use of booby-traps; the Soviets booby-trapped pens because illiteracy was very high in Afghanistan, making the act of wearing a pen in your pocket a sign of status - meaning you can write and read. The Soviets also booby-trapped toys... The Mujahideens bobby-trapped roads (even beneath the concrete!) and even ordinary coffe machines could be bobby-trapped by them. There is a plate based in a picture of a dead Ukrainian parachute officer, with some commentary on the diary found in his body. The photographs are also good and the author appears in one of them examining an AK rifle with a group of Mujahideen guerrillas.Overall this book is excellent for the time when it was written. For a book showing a more scholar view of the conflict and written decades after the end of the war (with new Russian material), I recommend Osprey's "The Soviet-Afghan War 1979-1989" by Gregory Fremont-Barnes, published in 2012.

This is a short book that was written in 1985. I do not think it was deeply researched as at that stage the conflict was too new. Still, I am not so sure that what we have now is much better.The USSR clearly came into the conflict thinking it was going to be short, by 1985 it became clear that this conflict was going to take a long time, so the USSR adjusted their plans to fight a long conflict. It appears that the military strategy the USSR adopted was designed to fight on the cheap by basically just holding the major centers and waiting it out knowing that in guerrilla warfare, the result is often determined by who can outlast the other.The book does contain a good discussion of the situation up to 1985. It contains useful maps and photos. In what would become a very important issue later, the Russian helicopters. The use of chemical weapons by the USSR something I am not yet convinced actually happened. The use of famine as a weapon. The problems with Pakistan which is still a major issue in the region.If you want a good background up to 1985 of the conflict, it is worth a read.

This Osprey title was written in 1986; therefore it lacks any objective overview of the war from start to finish. It is, however a good source of basic information on the war up to that point. The color plates by Ron Volstad are excellent. The author makes several good points, especially noting the friction between various Afghan ethnic groups. You didn't think it was all about religion, did you? After reading this, one wonders about the wisdom of the U.S. involvement there...England and Russia have already been down this path!

EXCELLENT

the book was in excellent condition

A horrific book full of errors such as the soviets using chemical weapons in Afghanistan. This guy doesn't have a clue what he's talking about. He even calls Muslims' Moslems which is a derogatory term. Never mind the spelling mistakes. This author must have been in a fairy land.