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A review by penguin_emperor_of_the_north
What We Won: America's Secret War in Afghanistan, 1979-89 by Bruce Riedel
5.0
I received this book as part of Good Reads First Reads giveaway.
What We Won is the story of the United States' involvement in the Soviet-Afghan war from 1979-1989. The book is divided into part 1, part 2 and an epilogue discussing lessons learned and the impact of the war. Part 1 goes over the participants such as the Afghans (communists and mujahedin), the Soviets, the Pakistanis and the Saudi's. Part 2 discusses the actual US involvement over the course of the war.
I think the reason so many people find history boring is because it's often presented as, "And then the Americans signed the Declaration of Independence. And then the British attacked Lexington and Concord . . . and then Barack Obama was elected president. This will be on the test." I know I skipped over some stuff but I fell asleep in class around Paul Revere and when I woke up Obama was president. On the other hand, Bruce Riedel presents the context and background of the Afghan war and answers questions like why did the Soviets invade and what were they trying to accomplish? Why did the Pakistanis flip out and what were they concerned about in the bigger scheme? why did the United States get involved?
Ultimately, Mr Reidel presents a coherent narrative about what happened, who did what and why they did it (noting speculation where appropriate). The book focuses on very high level strategy. So decisions at the level of the American or Pakistani presidents, the Soviet premier, etc. I would've liked to see more talk about the situation on the ground (how did the mujahedin actually live and fight?) but that was explicitly outside this book's scope. It's not to the book's detriment at all, I simply came at this expecting more of an on the ground viewpoint.
I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in history, especially the history of the late Cold War. I'd also recommend this book to anyone not interested but open minded enough to try. The story is certainly engrossing enough to get you interested.
What We Won is the story of the United States' involvement in the Soviet-Afghan war from 1979-1989. The book is divided into part 1, part 2 and an epilogue discussing lessons learned and the impact of the war. Part 1 goes over the participants such as the Afghans (communists and mujahedin), the Soviets, the Pakistanis and the Saudi's. Part 2 discusses the actual US involvement over the course of the war.
I think the reason so many people find history boring is because it's often presented as, "And then the Americans signed the Declaration of Independence. And then the British attacked Lexington and Concord . . . and then Barack Obama was elected president. This will be on the test." I know I skipped over some stuff but I fell asleep in class around Paul Revere and when I woke up Obama was president. On the other hand, Bruce Riedel presents the context and background of the Afghan war and answers questions like why did the Soviets invade and what were they trying to accomplish? Why did the Pakistanis flip out and what were they concerned about in the bigger scheme? why did the United States get involved?
Ultimately, Mr Reidel presents a coherent narrative about what happened, who did what and why they did it (noting speculation where appropriate). The book focuses on very high level strategy. So decisions at the level of the American or Pakistani presidents, the Soviet premier, etc. I would've liked to see more talk about the situation on the ground (how did the mujahedin actually live and fight?) but that was explicitly outside this book's scope. It's not to the book's detriment at all, I simply came at this expecting more of an on the ground viewpoint.
I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in history, especially the history of the late Cold War. I'd also recommend this book to anyone not interested but open minded enough to try. The story is certainly engrossing enough to get you interested.