Gregory Feifer
Author of The Great Gamble: The Soviet War in Afghanistan
About the Author
Works by Gregory Feifer
Associated Works
Spy Handler: Memoir of a KGB Officer - The True Story of the Man Who Recruited Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames (2004) — some editions — 270 copies, 5 reviews
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Harvard University, B.A., M.A.
- Short biography
- Gregory Feifer is a former Moscow correspondent for National Public Radio who has reported from Russia for almost a decade. During its resurgence under Putin, he filed from other former Soviet republics and across Russia, where he observed the effects of the country's vast new oil wealth on an increasingly nationalistic society as well as Moscow's rekindling of a new Cold War-style opposition to the West. In 2008, Feifer covered the Russia-Georgia war from the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia and traveled to Siberia, Belgrade and Berlin to produce a series on the Kremlin's use of Gazprom, the Russian gas monopoly, as an instrument of foreign policy.
Before joining NPR in 2005, Feifer-whose mother is Russian-lived in Paris and New York, and has written for numerous outlets, including The New Republic, The Washington Post and World Policy Journal. He witnessed the coup d'etat attempt against Mikhail Gorbachev in 1991, and later, on a fellowship from the Institute of Current World Affairs, examined the end of the Yeltsin era and Russia's subsequent transformation into an authoritarian state.
Feifer is the author of The Great Gamble, a history of the Soviet war in Afghanistan and coauthor of Spy Handler with former KGB colonel Victor Cherkashin. He lives in Boston with his wife Elizabeth, son Sebastian and daughter Vanessa.
http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/auth... - Nationality
- USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
Its impossible to read this book and not see similarities in our own invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. This book in its own right and its own subject matter is an incredibly informative and easy to read book on the Soviet involvement, invasion, and occupation of Afghanistan. The book flows excellently from each subject and transitions easily from political, world, and individual accounts. Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and sadly it would appear that those show more who orchestrated the Coalition invasion of Afghanistan didnt bother to read up on their Soviet history. show less
A new look at why Russia doesn't go the way the western world thinks it logically should. Why not? Because there is little or no logic involved in the way Russian leaders think. There is no experience with abiding by rational laws. It's always been "whatever the leader says, goes". And, there is no reason to look for that to change. Whatever is best for Russia is what Russia will pursue. The story of the author's parents' romance--Russian mother, American father-- is woven throughout the book.
Its impossible to read this book and not see similarities in our own invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. This book in its own right and its own subject matter is an incredibly informative and easy to read book on the Soviet involvement, invasion, and occupation of Afghanistan. The book flows excellently from each subject and transitions easily from political, world, and individual accounts. Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and sadly it would appear that those show more who orchestrated the Coalition invasion of Afghanistan didnt bother to read up on their Soviet history. show less
A quick and entertaining read. More of a collection of war stories from the Soviet expedition into Afghanistan than the title would suggest. Feifer's backgrounding is most suitable for those unfamiliar with the subject. While it risks losing information in generalizations, it manages to keep up with the rest of the book's pace. The ending seemed hurried with only already expected conclusions presented.
There were two prominent drawbacks. The first is that the CIA's role is delegated to that show more of sideline mention as part of aid contributors to the mujahideen along with China, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Operation Cyclone is not even mentioned by name and Feifer presents confusing goals for US foreign policy towards the Soviet invasion. The second being Feifer's ideological tilt towards "the free world". show less
There were two prominent drawbacks. The first is that the CIA's role is delegated to that show more of sideline mention as part of aid contributors to the mujahideen along with China, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Operation Cyclone is not even mentioned by name and Feifer presents confusing goals for US foreign policy towards the Soviet invasion. The second being Feifer's ideological tilt towards "the free world". show less
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Afghanistan (1)
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