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Vladislav Tamarov, translated by Naomi Marcus and Marianne Clarke Trangen |
AFGHANISTAN: SOVIET VIETNAM | ||
AFGHANISTAN:
This book has been reprinted by TEN SPEED PRESS as "AFGHANISTAN: A Russian Soldier's Story," ISBN 1-58008-416-8.
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A powerful photographic essay, by a nineteen-year-old minesweeper, combines
wrenching, poetic texts with dramatic photographs from a disastrous war,
chronicling what has become known as the "Soviet Vietnam."
Vladislav Tamarov was nineteen when he was drafted into the Soviet Army and sent to fight in Afghanistan. This is his story of 621 days of war: 217 days of combat missions; 14,904 hours; 894,240 minutes. Secretly keeping a detailed journal and photographic record of his combat missions in the mountains, Tamarov captured the fear, futility, and violence of an insane war. With uncompromising clarity, he provides a stirring personal account and rare photo documentation of senseless destruction on a massive scale. His story of surpassing government folly and the sacrifice of a nation's youth for a doomed political gesture will be all too familiar to Americans in the wake of Vietnam — and all the more poignant in this post-September 11th era. Afghanistan: Soviet Vietnam is a superb demonstration of the power of the photo essay. It combines wrenching, poetic texts bursting with insight, anger, and beauty with dramatic photographs from a disastrous war fought in an exotic landscape of which we know little. Tamarov proves himself a poet of both word and image in this moving photographic essay.
"A 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.... Everyone should read this book." "Tamarov presents a powerful portrait of the Soviet Union's Vietnam
— Afghanistan. Through his lens we see graphic evidence that the 'thousand
yard stare' is not unique to Vietnam veterans. The Afghantsi and Vietnam
veterans share hauntingly similar stories, proof that Soviet leaders did
not apply the lessons we learned when they waged war against a third world
country." |
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VLADISLAV TAMAROV was a member of the Soviet Union's Airborne Assault Force and served on the front lines in Afghanistan as part of a minesweeping team. After the war, Tamarov worked as a professional break-dancer and mime for a year. Now he is a freelance photographer, a writer, and an organizer of the Afghanistan Veterans. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada.
NAOMI MARCUS received her masters degree from Columbia School of Journalism and has spent many years as a freelance journalist, translator, and interpreter. One of her favorite jobs was working with the Moscow Circus in California. She works as a producer in public affairs and news at KQED-FM, San Francisco. MARIANNE CLARKE TRANGEN has done interpreting and translating for commercial and nonprofit organizations. She appeared in the PBS documentary "Brothers in Arms" about veterans of both Vietnam and Afghanistan.
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