The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a grueling debacle that has striking lessons for the 21st century. Parallels between the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq are impossible to ignore. The Soviet Union sent some of its most elite troops to unfamiliar lands to fight a vaguely defined enemy, which eventually defeated their superior numbers with unconventional tactics. Although the Soviet leadership initially...

This harrowing account from the front lines of the Afghan civil war can stand comparison with such masterpieces as Michael Herr’s Dispatches or George Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia. Sometimes lyrical, sometimes harrowing, sometimes absurdly comic, NIGHT LETTERS gives an indelible human face to a conflict that few Americans have followed or understood. Rob Schultheis fell in love with Afghanistan in the 1970s, when it was a wild, unspoiled country...

The story of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan is well known: the expansionist Communists overwhelmed a poor country as a means of reaching a warm-water port on the Persian Gulf. Afghan mujahideen upset their plans, holding on with little more than natural fighting skills, until CIA agents came to the rescue with American arms. Humiliated in battle, the Soviets hastily retreated. It is a great story-but it never happened. In this brilliant, myth-busting...

Massood Farivar draws on his unique experience as a native Afghan, a former mujahideen fighter, and a longtime U.S. resident to provide unprecedented insight into the recent collision between Islam and the West.

World affairs expert and intrepid travel journalist Robert D. Kaplan braved the dangers of war-ravaged Afghanistan in the 1980s, living among the mujahidin - the "soldiers of god" - whose unwavering devotion to Islam fueled their mission to oust the formidable Soviet invaders. In Soldiers of God, we follow Kaplan's extraordinary journey and learn how the thwarted Soviet invasion gave rise to the ruthless Taliban and the defining international conflagration...

"A vivid narrative of a life in intelligence and special operations, from the Cold War to the war on terror. In 1984, Michael Vickers took charge of the CIA's secret campaign against the Soviets in Afghanistan. Inheriting a strategy aimed at imposing costs on Russia, Vickers transformed the campaign into an all-out effort to help the Afghans win their war. More than any other American, he was responsible for the outcome in Afghanistan that led to...

When Col. Sam Trautman is captured by the Soviets during a top-secret mission in Afghanistan, Rambo erupts into a one-man firestorm to rescue his former commanding officer and decimate the enemy.

The film is based on a true story of the 9th company during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s. Young Soviet Army recruits are sent from boot camp directly into the war in Afghanistan. Real war is not like boot camp at all. This inexperienced company is sent to defend a difficult position, a task which may be beyond their capabilities.

When Col. Sam Trautman is captured by the Soviets during a top-secret mission in Afghanistan, Rambo leaves his Buudhist monastary and erupts in to a one-man firestorm to rescue his former commanding officer and decimate the enemy.

In the early 1980s, Charlie Wilson is best known as a womanizing US congressional representative from Texas. He seemed to be in the minor leagues, except for the fact that he is a member of two major foreign policy and covert-ops committees. However, once Charlie is prodded by his major conservative supporter, Joanne Herring, Wilson learns about the plight of the people who are suffering from the effects of the brutal Soviet occupation of Afghanistan....