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The Great Gamble

The Soviet War in Afghanistan

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The Great Gamble

By: Gregory Feifer
Narrated by: Robertson Dean
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About this listen

 The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a grueling debacle that has striking lessons for American foreign policy today. In The Great Gamble, Gregory Feifer examines the war 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 number 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 fascinating 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. The Great Gamble tells an unforgettable story full of drama, action, and political intrigue whose relevance in our own time is greater than ever.

©2008 Gregory Feifer (P)2009 Tantor Asia Military Russia World War Solider American Foreign Policy Soviet Afghanistan

Critic Reviews

"Feifer's thoughtful, deliberative use of eyewitness testimony gives an intensely close-up sense of what the war was like for those who fought it." ( Kirkus Reviews)

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Good book. Compelling historical details

Loved the prose. Great stuff overall. Really enjoyed how detailed it is in describing the war frm its inception to its conclusion with a focus on the soldiers involved.

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Excellent

'Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it' - Winston Churchill

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Almost could have been about the war in Ukraine

I found myself cringing a lot listening to this book in 2023 and realising how many of the mistakes the Soviet military made in their war in Afghanistan are being repeated in the Russian war in Ukraine. The widespread killing of innocent civilians is just the start. Then you have under equipped and improperly fed soldiers. And theft and corruption are/ were endemic amongst all as soldiers struggled to get the basics they needed.

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