Jihad against the Kremlin

Although Czechoslovakia and Afghanistan were very different countries, they both shared a common fate – falling victim to invasion by the Soviet army. And although the communist superpower's military adventure in the mountainous Asian state is not such a distant memory, we know relatively little about it. Unlike other conflicts in the second half of the twentieth century, few journalists and photographers made it into Afghanistan at the time, and not many eyewitness accounts have been published. The 13th volume of the Half-Forgotten Wars series attempts to capture the entire course of this important war, which took place in the 1980s and whose consequences influenced events in many parts of the planet. It played its part in the end of the Cold War, the collapse of the Eastern European communist bloc, and ultimately the dissolution of the Soviet Union itself. At the same time, it gave birth to a global terrorist organisation, which today is Al-Qaeda, and thus contributed to the rise of uncompromising radical Islamists, who represent an undeniable phenomenon in today's world – and not just in the Islamic one. In addition to the situation on the battlefields, political and diplomatic negotiations, and the country's economic situation, the author – an experienced journalist who not only specialises in the Islamic world but has also visited Afghanistan several times – traces the gradual rise of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden against the backdrop of the war. He also covers the subsequent Afghan civil war, which escalated after the Soviet withdrawal and culminated in the takeover by the fanatical Taliban movement. The 1st volume of the Half-Forgotten Wars edition.