Russian Roulette

I have a strong conviction that if one is about to write a "review" on a book he or she must, a the very least, read the entire book and then offer their opinions. Some reviwers do not do that, some skim... I have read the book and several times I must add. It is a great work in a sense of perseptions of a modern war or conflict (as it is called in the media and politicians). I had no idea how the Soviet soldiers viewed that war nor did I know how the commader of the Soviet contingent viewed it. It is not a book about Soviet military tactics in Afganistan nor is it an adventure story. It is an attempt to analyze a fruitless war and its effect on the people.

Perhaps I loved the book more because I read it on my recent visit to Afghanistan. Beginning with the first episode in Kabul Hotel, everything seemed so vivid and painful. I was really sorry for those who had to be on both sides in the period of the Soviet occupation, which turned out to be after all the beginning of a much more grave tragedy.