| Description |
1 online resource (xx, 345 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates) : illustrations (some color), map |
| Contents |
Introduction / Rory Stewart -- Author's note -- Translator's note -- Prologue -- 1. The British"find" Massoud -- 2. Were we nearly shot?: meeting Massoud -- 3. The boy who loved playing soldiers -- 4. The coup that failed: exile in Pakistan -- 5. Bombed by the Russians in the Panjsher -- 6. The Russians propose a ceasefire -- 7. Massound deals with the Russians -- 8. Marriage and war -- 9. Defeat and failure: "Am I afraid of death?" -- 10. The Russian perspective -- 11. A winter offensive -- 12. Massoud takes Farkhar -- 13. Expanding into the north -- 14. The Russians prepare to withdraw -- 15. Massoud captures Kabul -- 16. Under siege: Massoud in Kabul -- 17. Tea and rockets with the Taliban -- 18. Mortal enemies -- 19. Massoud retreats from Kabul -- 20. A low ebb -- 21. "My father was incorruptible" -- 22. Massoud visits Europe -- 23. How they killed Massoud -- 24. The eve of assassination -- 25. A final encounter |
| Summary |
"The first biography in a decade of Afghan resistance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud. When the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979, the forces of resistance were disparate. Many groups were caught up in fighting each other and competing for Western arms. The exception were those commanded by Ahmad Shah Massoud, the military strategist and political operator who solidified the resistance and undermined the Russian occupation, leading resistance members to a series of defensive victories. Sandy Gall followed Massoud during Soviet incursions and reported on the war in Afghanistan, and he draws on this first-hand experience in his biography of this charismatic guerrilla commander. Afghan Napoleon includes excerpts from the surviving volumes of Massoud's prolific diaries--many translated into English for the first time--which detail crucial moments in his personal life and during his time in the resistance. Born into a liberalizing Afghanistan in the 1960s, Massoud ardently opposed communism, and he rose to prominence by coordinating the defense of the Panjsher Valley against Soviet offensives. Despite being under-equipped and outnumbered, he orchestrated a series of victories over the Russians. Massoud's assassination in 2001, just two days before the attack on the Twin Towers, is believed to have been ordered by Osama bin Laden. Despite the ultimate frustration of Massoud's attempts to build political consensus, he is recognized today as a national hero."--Amazon |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Print version record |
| Subject |
Masʺud, Aḣmadshoḣ, 1953-2001.
|
| SUBJECT |
Masʺud, Aḣmadshoḣ, 1953-2001 fast |
| Subject |
Revolutionaries -- Afghanistan -- Biography
|
|
Revolutionaries
|
| SUBJECT |
Afghanistan -- History -- Soviet occupation, 1979-1989.
http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85001522
|
| Subject |
Afghanistan
|
| Genre/Form |
Biographies
|
|
History
|
|
Biographies.
|
|
Biographies.
|
| Form |
Electronic book
|
| Author |
Stewart, Rory, writer of introduction.
|
| ISBN |
9781913368234 |
|
1913368238 |
|
