CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE

by Jan Goodwin ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 19, 1987

An account of a journalist's experience traveling with the Afghan rebels. The writer, an editor of Ladies' Home Journal, endured the day-to-day hazards of life with the Mujahideen, who have been fighting the Russians for years in a war largely unreported. Risking life and limb, Goodwin brings the horrors of Russian genocide to our attention starkly. Only half the population of Afghanistan now remains within the borders of the country. The author covered 10 provinces and describes the ravaged land, towns and people. The stories of murdered wives and children, whole families slaughtered, maimed and dying wounded stun at first hearing and, in the end, haunt. Yet, the survivors fight on without ammunition or adequate weapons, cheated by supposed allies and often at odds with one another. We get to know many of these brave people, and their courage is quite remarkable. Goodwin's descriptions of the battles and the landscape make you wonder how they have survived at all. Russian carpet-bombing, napalm and torture evoke memories of the Vietnam war. However, in Afghanistan the Russians have all but barred western journalists. Through a subter-fuge, Goodwin got herself invited to Kabul and there encountered the double-think and bizarre unreality of the Russian position--they claim to have brought enlightenment to these benighted people. By risking her neck to do this book, the author shows she has plenty of courage, but she is also observant and sensitive. Writing of man's faith in the face of a murderous juggernaut, she looks unblinkingly at this festering canker.

Pub Date: March 19, 1987

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1987

Categories: NONFICTION