Afghanistan: Agony of a Nation

This book is an account of the author's last journey to Afghanistan and what he found. He chose to revisit the man he believes is the outstanding commander in Afghanistan: Ahmed Shah Masud, a dashing Tajik who is trying to organise resistance to the Russians on a regional, and eventually national scale. This book tells the story of the journey, with all its hardships and dangers. On the inward journey, for example, the camera horse fell in a river, submerging the precious film which was, luckily, sufficiently waterproofed to survive the drenching. It also explains the background to the war and includes some dramatic accounts of the fighting. For his work in Afghanistan, Sandy Gall was awarded the Lawrence of Arabia Memorial Medal, 1987, by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, as Patron of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs.