Behind Russian Lines Book

In the summer of 1982, Sandy Gall set off for Afghanistan on what turned out to be the hardest assignment of his life. During his career as a reporter he had covered plenty of wars and revolutions before, but he had never been required to walk all the way to an assignment and all the way back again, dodging Russian bombs en route. But this was precisely what happened as he and a television crew walked from Pakistan to the Panjsher Valley—a journey which took two weeks. Their goal was the stronghold of the Resistance leader Masud who, although barely twenty-eight years old, was the best known and most effective of the Afghan guerrillas. By late August, Russian fighter bombers were pounding the Panjsher as a prelude to a full-scale ground attack, and Sandy Gall and his companions ran smack into it. The bombing proved so intense that they were separated from their equipment for three weeks and began to worry that they would have to abandon the film and withdraw to Pakistan. Miraculously, the camera made a last-minute appearance and the highly-acclaimed documentary was shot. The next problem was to get out, as their inward route was now closed. Masud redirected them through the icy mountain passes of Nuristan, more than 14,000 feet high. In this enthralling book, Sandy Gall recounts his adventures and tells how he emerged at the end of October, exhausted and much thinner but triumphant and full of admiration for the courage of the mujahideen. This is his tribute to those splendid fighters, pitting themselves relentlessly against Soviet might.