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Afghanistan: Soviet Vietnam
A photo essay by a veteran of the Soviet army who spent twenty months in Afghanistan reveals the fear and violence of a senseless war
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 10, 2010
A Graphic View of War as Lived by a Real Soldier
Now here’s a memoir that all veterans and war history buffs will respect. The Afghan-Russian War may not be one of those “glamorous” wars that Hollywood has made popular, but for the young men fighting in it, it was as brutal and senseless as any other.
This is the story of Russian soldier Vladislav Tamarov during his 2-year war tour as a mine sweeper. So, how was the life of a Russian mine sweeper in 1984?
Short. That’s how it was. Walk that field and if you blow up, you found the mine. That’s pretty much how you’d have had to do it back then, and don’t you dare hesitate to make that first step.
To us, the privileged generation Nintendo, used to war gaming and movies that make wars look “cool”, the word “war” has lost its meaning and we have lost our appreciation for the veteran soldier. In this book, we are reminded of the wounds, not just physical but psychological, that no amount of time, counselling or love can ever heal.
Vladislav was an aspiring journalist and had to smuggle his camera into camp because soldiers were not allowed such freedoms. This book tells his tale in a rather rugged style quite fitting of a veteran who lived through hell, and as you pass the pages you see the pictures of his friends, one after another, only to find out a couple of pages later that they blew to pieces.
Make no mistake; this memoir is not a cry for help or a pity-me-I’m-a-vet type of story. It is not a tale of heroism and triumph against an indomitable foe. It is simply an organized recollection of photographs and notes that a 19-year-old boy took while he was at war with an enemy he did not hate . . . in a country he did not care about . . . for a government that did not care about him.
Now here’s a memoir that all veterans and war history buffs will respect. The Afghan-Russian War may not be one of those “glamorous” wars that Hollywood has made popular, but for the young men fighting in it, it was as brutal and senseless as any other.
This is the story of Russian soldier Vladislav Tamarov during his 2-year war tour as a mine sweeper. So, how was the life of a Russian mine sweeper in 1984?
Short. That’s how it was. Walk that field and if you blow up, you found the mine. That’s pretty much how you’d have had to do it back then, and don’t you dare hesitate to make that first step.
To us, the privileged generation Nintendo, used to war gaming and movies that make wars look “cool”, the word “war” has lost its meaning and we have lost our appreciation for the veteran soldier. In this book, we are reminded of the wounds, not just physical but psychological, that no amount of time, counselling or love can ever heal.
Vladislav was an aspiring journalist and had to smuggle his camera into camp because soldiers were not allowed such freedoms. This book tells his tale in a rather rugged style quite fitting of a veteran who lived through hell, and as you pass the pages you see the pictures of his friends, one after another, only to find out a couple of pages later that they blew to pieces.
Make no mistake; this memoir is not a cry for help or a pity-me-I’m-a-vet type of story. It is not a tale of heroism and triumph against an indomitable foe. It is simply an organized recollection of photographs and notes that a 19-year-old boy took while he was at war with an enemy he did not hate . . . in a country he did not care about . . . for a government that did not care about him.
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July 13, 2010Afghanistan: A Russian Soldier's Story by Vladislav Tamarov
A photo diary, with short essays. Very Russian, very sad. Why are we doing this? (I know it's different, that's always what you're told.)
If you are interested go listen to this man's voice on NPR, from ten year's ago, 15 years after he had left Afghanistan. (The audio is about eight minutes long.) There is still so much sadness. He and the men he served with got very little help after the war to cope with the psychological effects.
http://weblogs.npr.org/programs/wesat...
A photo diary, with short essays. Very Russian, very sad. Why are we doing this? (I know it's different, that's always what you're told.)
If you are interested go listen to this man's voice on NPR, from ten year's ago, 15 years after he had left Afghanistan. (The audio is about eight minutes long.) There is still so much sadness. He and the men he served with got very little help after the war to cope with the psychological effects.
http://weblogs.npr.org/programs/wesat...
November 27, 2022
interesting book but fell short of my expectations because micah hyped it up so much. really amazing photography, but i think it is clear that the authors strong suit is that, not writing. there was no satisfying flow to the narrative, no poetry to it, and nothing said that felt so deep or meaningful that it could make up for the lack of the latter. i found the shorter blurbs that accompanied individual pictures very informative, and preferred them to the larger chunks of text at the beginning of each section that could be a bit meandering and hard to follow. i do think having more knowledge of afghanistan going in would have been helpful and made the experience of reading more powerful, so i will take the L on that one. this book feels like something i would rather see as a museum exhibit than a piece of literature. every now and then i am served a reminder of how relatively recently people my age were sent to war en masse and against their will, always pretty jarring to think about and i think this book does a good job emphasizing that tragedy. overall would recommend, especially since its such a quick read.
December 31, 2017
Membaca memoir-foto-esei, terlebih lagi ditulis oleh seorang veteran perang, dengan imbauan disertai perasaan sesal, bersalah, seriau yang memburu si pencatatanya ke dalam kehidupannya, membuatkan aku rasa bersyukur dengan keamanan. dan walaupun aku ada pengalaman asas tentera (wataniah sajor) tapi pengalaman veteran ini tetap saja membuatkan tubuh aku rontok, renyuk dan kelelahan membacanya.
Apa yang lebih penting, rasa kemanusiaan tetap berada dalam jiwa seorang askar dan dalam kehidupan, kemanusiaan adalah penting!
Apa yang lebih penting, rasa kemanusiaan tetap berada dalam jiwa seorang askar dan dalam kehidupan, kemanusiaan adalah penting!
October 3, 2011
Visceral … Poetic … Haunting …
The last 10 years of fighting in Afghanistan often draw parallels to the Soviet Union’s 10 year foray into Afghanistan following the 1979 incursion. Often referred to as the Soviet Union’s “Vietnam”, it was only vaguely reported in the United States where its most significant impact was relegated to the tit-for-tat boycotts of the 1980 and 1984 Summer Olympic Games. The conflict has been shrouded in relative obscurity for decades and because of this, I found Vladislav Tamarov’s AFGHANISTAN: A RUSSIAN SOLDIER’S STORY so intriguing. Tamarov’s hauntingly poetic and visually moving memoir emphatically substantiates the parallels between the Russian soldier’s experience in Afghanistan and the American soldier’s experience in Vietnam.
At less than 200 pages, AFGHANISTAN: A RUSSIAN SOLDIER’S STORY proves that a combat memoir does not need to rely on verbosity to give readers a taste of how miserable war is. Tamarov captures his experience “in country” quite succinctly by merely captioning the multitude of photographs that comprise most of the book’s content. Rather than a simple recap of events, the author chooses to pen the intimate thought recollections that each picture evokes; giving readers deeper insight to Tamarov’s experiences and how they haunt him to this day. Having served 621 days in Afghanistan and over 200 of those days in actual combat conditions, Tamarov is not a mere bystander to the action. Serving as a minesweeper, Tamarov admits he’s fortunate to have survived and recalls many comrades who succumbed to the deadly task of clearing mines (he also confesses the likelihood that some/many of these deaths may have been caused by “friendly”/Soviet mines). He vividly recollects the necessity of killing, the hesitation he experiences prior to pulling the trigger before executing a prisoner and how his rationale of being only nineteen years old at the time no longer seemed valid. Tamarov expresses his suspicion of the Soviet government publicly claiming the Afghanistan mission consisted of planting trees and constructing buildings … as it never explained the increasing number of dead and wounded Russian soldiers returning home from Afghanistan. It is this disillusionment that correlates to the experience of many American Vietnam veterans; something the author sensed himself after returning home from Afghanistan. Internally broken and haunted by the loss of friends, Tamarov finds a degree of peace by participating in a support group consisting of Afghanistan and Vietnam vets.
I found Tamarov’s memoir to be an eye-opener … partly because it shed light on the Soviet side of the mysterious conflict, but also because of the author’s age, which is roughly the same as mine. As I read, I found myself comparing the significant differences between the events of my life (facing college) and those of Vladislav Tamarov (facing combat). AFGHANISTAN: A RUSSIAN SOLDIER’S STORY is neither whiny, preachy nor chest-thumping; it is simply an insightful view of the impact war has on the average man.
The last 10 years of fighting in Afghanistan often draw parallels to the Soviet Union’s 10 year foray into Afghanistan following the 1979 incursion. Often referred to as the Soviet Union’s “Vietnam”, it was only vaguely reported in the United States where its most significant impact was relegated to the tit-for-tat boycotts of the 1980 and 1984 Summer Olympic Games. The conflict has been shrouded in relative obscurity for decades and because of this, I found Vladislav Tamarov’s AFGHANISTAN: A RUSSIAN SOLDIER’S STORY so intriguing. Tamarov’s hauntingly poetic and visually moving memoir emphatically substantiates the parallels between the Russian soldier’s experience in Afghanistan and the American soldier’s experience in Vietnam.
At less than 200 pages, AFGHANISTAN: A RUSSIAN SOLDIER’S STORY proves that a combat memoir does not need to rely on verbosity to give readers a taste of how miserable war is. Tamarov captures his experience “in country” quite succinctly by merely captioning the multitude of photographs that comprise most of the book’s content. Rather than a simple recap of events, the author chooses to pen the intimate thought recollections that each picture evokes; giving readers deeper insight to Tamarov’s experiences and how they haunt him to this day. Having served 621 days in Afghanistan and over 200 of those days in actual combat conditions, Tamarov is not a mere bystander to the action. Serving as a minesweeper, Tamarov admits he’s fortunate to have survived and recalls many comrades who succumbed to the deadly task of clearing mines (he also confesses the likelihood that some/many of these deaths may have been caused by “friendly”/Soviet mines). He vividly recollects the necessity of killing, the hesitation he experiences prior to pulling the trigger before executing a prisoner and how his rationale of being only nineteen years old at the time no longer seemed valid. Tamarov expresses his suspicion of the Soviet government publicly claiming the Afghanistan mission consisted of planting trees and constructing buildings … as it never explained the increasing number of dead and wounded Russian soldiers returning home from Afghanistan. It is this disillusionment that correlates to the experience of many American Vietnam veterans; something the author sensed himself after returning home from Afghanistan. Internally broken and haunted by the loss of friends, Tamarov finds a degree of peace by participating in a support group consisting of Afghanistan and Vietnam vets.
I found Tamarov’s memoir to be an eye-opener … partly because it shed light on the Soviet side of the mysterious conflict, but also because of the author’s age, which is roughly the same as mine. As I read, I found myself comparing the significant differences between the events of my life (facing college) and those of Vladislav Tamarov (facing combat). AFGHANISTAN: A RUSSIAN SOLDIER’S STORY is neither whiny, preachy nor chest-thumping; it is simply an insightful view of the impact war has on the average man.
August 7, 2011
Photos and text combine to give an intimate and moving witness.
December 26, 2014
Captivating photo essay of a Soviet soldier active in Kunar, Wardak, Panjshir and Kabul. Thoroughly moving.
January 28, 2019
A good review of what really was happening in Afghanistan back then from a Russian soldiers experience. Interesting points and anti-war sentiment.
December 17, 2019
Good book. Sad story. Too many kids are sent to die in foreign lands by old politicians who don't care about them and see them as just another number.
February 6, 2021
Beautiful and heart wrenching anti-war. Maybe it's the translation, but the narrative felt a little disjointed.
July 3, 2021
Afghanistan: A Russian Soldier's Story kept me enthralled to the very end and looking forward to reading future books by Vladislav Tamarov.
March 4, 2017
Vladislav Tamarov is your typical 18 year old. He owns a cat, and lives with his two parents in St. Petersburg, and isn't sure what he wants to do next with his life. Suddenly his plans are put on hold when his conscription orders come in for two years in the Soviet Military, and is trained as airborne infantry before being shipped to Afghanistan in 1984.
Unfortunately for Tamarov, there wasn't a need for airborne troops, so he was assigned as a minesweeper instead. With a camera and secret journal, he reveals this conflict in a deeply personal manner that's so hard to find from the Soviet perspective. He's impacted by PTSD, but weaves together vignettes of his modern life and the one he experienced fighting. He has a good eye for portraits, and the stories that go along with them are haunting as he lists the fates of those he photographed as they went off to combat missions.
Unfortunately for Tamarov, there wasn't a need for airborne troops, so he was assigned as a minesweeper instead. With a camera and secret journal, he reveals this conflict in a deeply personal manner that's so hard to find from the Soviet perspective. He's impacted by PTSD, but weaves together vignettes of his modern life and the one he experienced fighting. He has a good eye for portraits, and the stories that go along with them are haunting as he lists the fates of those he photographed as they went off to combat missions.
September 25, 2014
This is a poetic memoir of one man's experiences during the Soviet-Afghan war and the impact they continue to have on him after his service ended. Tamarov has clearly given a great deal of thought to what goes on inside of him, and he expresses himself well. The book doesn't give a great deal of additional information to readers who already know something about this war, but its perspective is completely unique. Worth reading.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews