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Product Description
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"This superb translation will generate widespread and unprecedented interest in the subject. Offering a candid view of a war that played a significant role in the ultimate demise of the Soviet Union, this book presents analysis absolutely vital to Western policymakers, as well as to political, diplomatic, and military historians, and anyone interested in Russian and Soviet history. It also provides insights regarding current and future Russian struggles in ethnic conflicts both at and within their borders, struggles that could potentially destroy the Russian Federation." DAVID M. GLANTZ, COAUTHOR OF THE BATTLE OF KURSK "Provides a treasure trove of information and analysis." WILLIAM E. ODOM, AUTHOR OF THE COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET MILITARY AND ON INTERNAL WAR
Product Description
The war in Afghanistan (1979-1989) has been called "the Soviet Union's Vietnam War", a conflict that pitted Soviet regulars against a relentless, elusive and ultimately unbeatable Afghan guerilla force (the mujahideen). The hit-and-run bloodletting across the war's decade tallied more than 25,000 dead Soviet soldiers plus a great many more casualties and further demoralized a USSR on the verge of disintegration. In this work, the Russian general staff takes a close critical look at the Soviet military's disappointing performance in that war in an effort to better understand what happened and why and what lessons should be taken from it. Lester Grau and Michael Gress's expert English translation of the general staff's study offers the first publication in any language of this illuminating work. Surprisingly, this was a study the general staff never intended to write, initially viewing the war in Afghanistan as a dismal abberation in Russian military history. The history of the 1990s has, of course, completely demolished that belief, as evidenced by the Russian Army's subsequent engagements with guerilla forces in Chechnya, Azerbaijan, Tadjikistan, Turkmenistan, and elsewhere. As a result, Russian officers decided to take a much closer look at the Red Army's experiences in the Afghan war. Their study presents the Russian view of how the war started, how it progressed, and how it ended; shows how a modern mechanized army organized and conducted a counter-guerilla war; chronicles the major battles and operations; and provides insights into Soviet tactics, strategy, doctrine and organization across a wide array of military branches. The editors' preface and commentary help contextualize the Russian view and alert the reader to blind spots in the general staff's thinking about the war. This document provides a case study on how yet another modern mechanized army imprudently relied upon the false promise of technology to defeat a determined guerilla foe. The Red Army had fought their war to a military draw but that was not enough to stave off political defeat at home.
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First Sentence
The Limited Contingent of Armed Forces of the Soviet Union entered the territory of Afghanistan in the last days of December 1979 "with the mission of rendering international aid to the friendly Afghan people and establishing advantageous conditions to prevent possible actions by the governments of neighboring countries against Afghanistan." Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
The Limited Contingent of Armed Forces of the Soviet Union entered the territory of Afghanistan in the last days of December 1979 "with the mission of rendering international aid to the friendly Afghan people and establishing advantageous conditions to prevent possible actions by the governments of neighboring countries against Afghanistan." Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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72% buy the item featured on this page: The Soviet-Afghan War: How a Superpower Fought and Lost (Modern War Studies) £11.70 |
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10% buy The Hidden War: A Russian Journalist's Account of the Soviet War in Afghanistan £7.40 |
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7% buy Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the Fall of the Taliban £8.79 |
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6% buy Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam £9.26 |
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