Afghanistan under Soviet Domination, 1964–91

Book excerpt: The book offers a clear, authoritative and readable guide to the modern history of Afghanistan. This remote land made up of many tribes and ethnic peoples on the borders of Central Asia became a focus of Superpower rivalry and international intrigue after the Soviet invasion in 1979. This book shows how Afghanistan's traditional society has been profoundly shaken up in a cruelly destructive war, causing the world's biggest refugee problem and a chronic instability which threatens the wider region.