The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan [Hardcover]

Lester W. Grau (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0714648574 | ISBN-13: 978-0714648576 | Edition: 2

This collection of vignettes was written by Soviet junior officers describing their experiences fighting the Mujahideen guerillas. It is not a history of the Soviet-Afghan war, but snapshots of combat as seen by young platoon leaders, company commanders, battalion commanders and military advisers.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Russian

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 2 edition (February 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714648574
• ISBN-13: 978-0714648576
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,840,379 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Modern Soviet Combat tactics, December 2, 1999

By 

Michael Grobelch (Irvine, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan (Paperback)

This work shows how the Soviet army responded to the guerilla tactics used by their enemies by analyzing a number of different combat situations. These situation cover both offensive and defensive operations. This work does not try to expalin the Afghan War on a strategic level, but deals exclusively with the tactical realm. Each vignette contains a map of usually sufficient detail to enable the reader to following the descriptions contained in the text.

The editor does a good job at translating Soviet-specific terms into the US/NATO vernacular.

The reader should pay paticular attention to the Soviet style map graphics - they are superior to US style graphics especially dealing the fluidity of a paticular action.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Death of a Thousand Cuts, December 3, 2001

By 

Marco Antonio Abarca (Colorado) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan (Paperback)

The Soviets experienced in Afghanistan the slow death of a thousand cuts. In his book, "The Bear Went Over the Mountain", Lester Grau carefully examines some of those small cuts. The book consists of a number of short vignettes written principally by Soviet Platoon and Company Leaders. In these short narratives, these leaders describe their combat experiences in such realms as ambush, convoy escort and urban fighting. At the end of the story, there is the Frunze Military Academy analysis of the narrative in which the strengths and weaknesses of the action are analyized. The vignettes end with Lt. Col. Grau's analysis of the action.

This book is not for someone looking for a general military history of the Soviet experience in Afghanistan. It is a book about small unit tactics and about what works and what fails. I only hope that this valuable book and his other book, "The Other Side of the Mountain" is being ready by young American Platoon and Company leaders currently fighting in Afghanistan.

I obtained both books through Amazon.com UK.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy Read, August 2, 2001

By 

"usmcrx" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan (Hardcover)

An easy read that points out both Soviet flaws and outstanding performances in their battle to overcome the guerillas of Afghanistan in the 1908s. Superbly translated from an official Russian document. One of the few Soviet documents accurately showing their fame and faults that ever made it out of the country. A MUST read if you care at all about what the Soviet military was involved in during the 1980s.