Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan 1979-89 – Rodric Braithwaite

As the British and US governments extricate themselves from the West’s War in Afghanistan (2001-2013/2014), it’s worth reading Rodric Braithwaite‘s account of the Soviet/Russian Afghan War a generation earlier.

It might sound like heavy reading, but our former Ambassador to Moscow brings a clear, light touch and human narrative to the politicians, leaders, generals and soliders who engaged in the Afghan War, taking us from the (largely political) events leading to the 40th Army’s arrival in 1979 to their final withdrawal across the Amu Darya/Oxus in February 1989. The USSR dissolved in December 1991.

No one ever really wins in Afghanistan.

Publisher page: Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan 1979-89 – Rodric Braithwaite