The great gamble : the Soviet war in Afghanistan / Gregory Feifer.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [309]-312) and index.

1. Invasion Considered: A Short, Victorious War -- 2. Storm-333: The Invasion -- 3. The Soviets Dig In -- 4. The Mujahideen Fight Back -- 5. The Soviets Seek Victory -- 6. The Tide Turns -- 7. Endgame -- 8. Aftermath.

"The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a grueling debacle that has striking lessons for the twenty-first century. In The Great Gamble, Gregory Feifer examines the conflict from the perspective of the soldiers on the ground. During the last years of the Cold War, the Soviet Union sent some of its most elite troops to unfamiliar lands in Central Asia to fight a vaguely defined enemy, which eventually defeated their superior numbers with unconventional tactics. Although the Soviet leadership initially saw the invasion as a victory, many Russian soldiers came to view the war as a demoralizing and devastating defeat, the consequences of which had a substantial impact on the Soviet Union and its collapse." "Feifer's extensive research includes interviews with participants from both sides of the conflict. In gripping detail, he vividly depicts the invasion of a volatile country that no power has ever successfully conquered. Parallels between the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq are impossible to ignore - both conflicts were waged amid vague ideological rhetoric about freedom. Both were roundly condemned by the outside world for trying to impose their favored forms of government on countries with very different ways of life. And both seem destined to end on uncertain terms."--BOOK JACKET.