History of Afghanistan

Contents:

Afghanistan during the Anglo-Afghan war of 1838–42, by Fredrick Engels (1857)
“The conquest of Afghanistan seemed accomplished, and a considerable portion of the troops were sent back. But the Afghans were noways content to be ruled by the Feringhee Kaffirs (European infidels), and during the whole of 1840 and ’41, insurrection followed on insurrection in every part of the country. The Anglo-Indian troops had to be constantly on the move ... Thus ended the attempt of the British to set up a prince of their own making in Afghanistan.”

A History of Aghanistan (1982)
A survey of Afghan history from ancient times through the Saur Revolution, published in the USSR by Progress Publishers.

Timeline of Events (1919–1996)

Fundamental Principles of the Democratic Republic of Aghanistan (1980)
An unofficial translation of the declaration of principles of the Democratic Republic established following the Saur Revolution.

The Afghan Tragedy, by Jonathan Neale (1981)
“All the paraphernalia of modern war has descended upon Afghanistan: the napalm, the tanks, the night-time executions, the refugee camps slowly turning into tent cities. On the one side the prophets of helicopter gunship socialism talk of ‘progress’ while their Russian masters bomb the peasantry and shoot down the students. On the other side an outraged people fights bravely under the banner of religious bigotry and the leadership of blatant careerists. It seems that neither side can win the war.”

Revolutionary Afghanistan, by Beverley Male (1982)
A history of the Afghan Saur Revolution of April 1978.

The Revolution in Afghanistan, by Emine Engin (1982)
On the April Revolution; biography of Hafizullah Amin, description of his government, excerpts from his speeches.

The True Face of Afghan Counter-Revolution, by Editorial Office of Haqiqat Enqelab Sawer newspaper (1982)
"The purpose of this book is to tear the mask off the face of the enemies of the April Revolution ... US imperialism has unleashed an undeclared war against our revolutionary country from the territory of Pakistan [and] the enemies of the Afghan people are in effect ... sending gangs of murderers to our country"

Afghanistan: The Revolution Continues (1984)
A photobook focused on the 1978 Saur Revolution and on the activities of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) and of its founder, Babrak Karmal.

Washington’s Secret War Against Afghanistan, by Phillip Bonosky (Chapter 3) (1985)
“You had read in the press that you would find Kabul choked with Russian tanks and you were prepared to find them, but found none: except when, pushing through the tangled, uncontrolled traffic, you broke into Revolutionary Square, and there it was: that ‘minimal’ Russian tank.”

Afghanistan Between the Past and the Future, by Lev Nikolayev (1986)
Impressions by a Soviet journalist from a trip to Afghanistan in the Spring of 1982.

Afghanistan: The horse changes riders, by Jonathan Neale (1988)
“The Russo-Afghan War is over. The killing has not finished yet. Tens of thousands will still die, a few of the sons of Kiev and Tashkent, many of the Sons and daughters of Herat and Kandahar. That is always the way with Geneva settlements. But the issue has been decided. The Soviet army has been defeated. The Mujahedin have won.
“For forty years the USSR and the USA have policed the world. This is Russia’s Vietnam: a major defeat for imperialism. As such it is more than welcome. It increases the space for popular movements in Poland and Hungary, in Armenia and in Moscow. “But if this is a defeat for helicopter gunship ‘socialism’, it is also a victory for the mullahs and the landlords. The Mujahedin are an authentic mass movement: the Afghan peasantry in arms. But the leadership and the politics of that movement are reactionary. Whichever faction of the resistance finally consolidates power in Kabul, they will lead a brutally repressive right-wing government.”

"Soviet Pull-Out Will Intensify the War" (1988)
Extracts from interview with a representative of the Committee of Propaganda and Agitation of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tsetung Thought for the Formation of the Communist Party of Afghanistan for the Emancipation of the Working Class dealing with the situation in Afghanistan following the signing of the Geneva agreement.

Afghan: Socialism from Above and Outside, by Samuel Farber (1990)

War and Tragedy in Afghanistan, by Tom Barrett (1992)

Interview with U.S. President Carter’s National Security Adviser (1998)
Brzezinski: “According to the official version of history, CIA aid to the Mujahadeen began during 1980, that is to say, after the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan, 24 Dec 1979. But the reality, secretly guarded until now, is completely otherwise: Indeed, it was July 3, 1979 that President Carter signed the first directive for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul.”

The long torment of Afghanistan, by Jonathan Neale (2001)
“Over the last 30 years the great and small powers of this world have made a hell of Afghanistan.”

Afghanistan, the CIA, bin Laden and the Taliban, by Phil Gasper (2001)

Afghanistan and the shape of the 20th century, by Sean Matgamna (2002)
"All the horrors that engulfed the peoples of Afghanistan in the last quarter of the twentieth century were called down on them by the Stalinist ‘Great Saur Revolution’ of 27 April 1978. It triggered the bloody 23 year cycle that ended with the fall of the Taliban regime in December 2001.”

Afghanistan's 25-Year Tragedy, an interview with Tahmeena Faryal (2002)

Afghanistan: the case against the "good war", by Jonathan Neale (2008)

Links:

Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan