Afghanistan: A Russian Soldier's Story [Paperback]

Vladislav Tamarov (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 2001

Drafted into the Soviet Army in April, 1984 and sent at the age of nineteen to serve in Afghanistan as a minesweeper, Vladislav Tamarov turned in secret to the pen and the camera to chronicle his 621 days of war. Photographs depicting the haunted faces of both soldiers and civilians, the country's rugged yet beautiful mountain terrain, and the banality of daily life between missions are interspersed with Tamarov's unsentimental but passionate prose, in which he reveals his growing disorientation and takes to task his government for a campaign that has been widely dubbed "the Soviet Vietnam".

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 1984 Tamarov, then 19, was drafted into the Soviet Army and posted to Afghanistan where he spent 20 months in a minesweeper outfit. Despite heavy operational responsibilities and danger, he managed to take artful photographs which capture the stark landscape, friendly and unfriendly Afghans and the men of his platoon in action and in repose. Minesweeping, according to Tamarov, was a highly respected assignment. Reason: "There were mines everywhere." The most haunting pictures are of the author's comrades, several of whom were killed by the mines they were disarming. In extended captions accompanying the photos, Tamarov expresses familiar but universally touching battlefield thoughts about fear, leadership, homesickness and comraderie. Returning home uninjured in 1986, the author subsequently traveled to the United States, met with Vietnam vets and paid his respects at the Wall on the Mall in Washington, D.C., sharing with his new acquaintances "something which others cannot understand." Tamarov is a freelance photographer in Saint Petersburgok? Saint Petersburg?/yikes, but a slip.gs .
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The faces are hauntingly familiar--GIs at Khe Sanh or Chosin? Iraqi dead near Safwan? No. Soviet Army Afghantsi, airborn desantniki sent to Kabul to fight the "just" socialist fight. Tamarov, a veteran minesweeper at 19, chronicles his 621 days of war in this stunning personal account. More than a photographic essay, this evokes the microcosm of combat: the last image of a young soldier who dies hours later, the dust, the unshaven, the deadly simplicity of a directional shrapnel mine cradled like some votive offering. Victims, officers, killers, Mujahadeen prisoners: something in all of their eyes that is a frozen visual tragedy. Everyone should read this book. For all collections.
- John Yurechko, Georgetown Univ., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Ten Speed Press (October 30, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580084168
• ISBN-13: 978-1580084161
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 0.4 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (59 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #252,868 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Russian soldier's experience in Afghanistan, April 14, 1999

By 

Jeffrey A. Forker (Kansas City, KS) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Afghanistan: Soviet Vietnam (Paperback)

This is the one book you need to read if you want to know what it was like to be a Russian soldier in Afghanistan. The pictures and prose are gripping. I would love to know how Tamarov got the pictures out. The book is not long. I sat down to start it and was up late finishing it. I myself am a veteran and was amazed at how I could relate, as a soldier and a man, to the descriptions of frustration, boredom and fear. And the descriptions of the various groups of the Mujahadeen offered insights that I have seen nowhere else. Also, Tamarov was Spetz Natz, and the view into that elite unit is priceless.

If you want to know what Afghanistan was like for the Russian soldier, or simply what modern warfare is like in the Third World, and its effects on young men, this is the one book you need. At least to start with. The pictures alone are worth the price of the book.

I sent this to a friend of mine, also a Russian, also a veteran of Afghanistan, and all he could say when I asked what he thought was, "My God."

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Honest Account, December 16, 2002

By 

"ivan1935" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Afghanistan: A Russian Soldier's Story (Paperback)

We in America often forget that most people in this world are just trying to survive from one day to the next. Vladislav Tamarov is thrown into the Soviet Union's ill-fated military adventure in Afghanistan, and there he tries to survive from one minute to the next. He also tries, courageously and often in vain, to help his comrades survive, having been assigned the most dangerous job: minesweeper. He bravely shares every aspect of his horrifying story. He effectively conveys the harsh (un)reality of war. The photos that affected me the most were of the young soldiers, who look far too young to be where they are. A must read for anyone who wants to understand what war is really like.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tamarov does an excellent job, April 8, 2002

By 

Bryon Wait (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Afghanistan: A Russian Soldier's Story (Paperback)

Tamarov, Vladislav
2001 Afghanistan: A Russian Soldier's Story. Berkley: Ten Speed Press

This book is essentially an account of one Russian soldier's life, Vladislav Tamarov, and his thoughts during his two-year tour of duty in Afghanistan from 1984 to 1985. More importantly, and the basis for the book, while in Afghanistan Tamarov has two jobs. One is assigned by the Soviet government, that of a minesweeper in the Blue Beret unit, and the other is a self-imposed job, one of a photojournalist. During his 217-day tour of duty, Tamarov constantly takes pictures to document his life abroad. Thus the book contains over 75 photographs, detailing his life and missions while in Afghanistan. Tamarov details how he enters into the Russian army at the age of nineteen because, according to the Russian Constitution, "To serve in the Soviet army is the honorable duty of every Soviet citizen." Tamarov explains that after boot camp, he is shortly shipped off to Afghanistan. Tamarov sees his the reason for his mission to Afghanistan as two-fold. According to Tamarov, "The first and official reason for sending Soviet troops into Afghanistan is to satisfy the request of the Afghanistan government. A second reason: Afghanistan is the Soviet Union's southern neighbor, and placing troops there assured the relative security of our southern borders." Tamarov describes the second reason as a more clandestine form of motivation, and that most of the Soviet public was unaware of this last reason.
Tamarov's book is divided into ten parts. Each part is devoted to either a geographical region of Afghanistan, where the trainings and combat missions take place, or it is devoted to personal issues Tamarov and his fellow soldiers deal with while occupying Afghanistan. Tamarov goes in depth on many of the missions he served on, as well as documenting the lifeand emotions encountered on the base and while on missions.
One of Tamarov's main points throughout the book is the gut wrenching effects war has on its young soldiers, those that survive anyway. Tamarov discusses how his tour in Afghanistan dramatically changed his life for the worse. Tamarov devotes two chapters to the ill effects war has on it participants. Tamarov explains how his depression after returning from war propels him to seek out other veterans of war, especially American who served during the Vietnam War, another "unsuccessful war". The last chapter of the book involves Tamarov coming to the United States in order to document the lives of other war veterans.
Tamarov's photos vividly capture the scenes of an ongoing war. And his captions serve to not only give the basic facts, but also gives a glimpse into his heart and mind while he was performing his missions. Some of these photos bear more impact than others. For instance, Tamarov has some photos that show his fellow soldiers going off to battles from which they would never return. Overall, this book does an excellent job at capturing the mood and atmosphere found on the Soviet bases and camps spread throughtout Afghanistan. Besides the impressive photos, Tamarov's text does a wonderful job in encapsulating his fears and desires while fighting this war in a foreign country. Tamarov makes it apparent the mean spirited nature of war takes a toll upon everyone, and that its affects are felt long after the war itself is over. "I can make these photos larger or smaller, darker or lighter. But what I can't do is bring back those who are gone forever."
Bryon Wait