Sido, Phillipe Les Guerres d'Afghanistan

The history of Afghanistan is primarily a military history, the history of a country that has been constantly embroiled in conflict due to foreign invasions or power struggles. It is the history of a nation that fought for its independence from other expansionist powers. Its unity and reputation as a warlike people were cemented in the struggles since the 18th century. The reactions of the Afghan population, a mosaic of different communities and tribes, were diverse and marked by territorial pride. Above all, however, Afghanistan's military history in the 19th and 20th centuries was at the centre of strategic rivalries between the Tsarist Empire and the British Empire, and later between the USSR and the United States, which wanted to rebuild a viable state there and wage a war on terrorism. The results were mixed, and although the invaders demonstrated great military prowess and achieved numerous tactical successes, none of them were able to prevail in the kingdom of insolence and defeat its proud defenders. Author Philippe Sidos, who served there on several occasions, recounts the wars in Afghanistan, which were successively imperial, colonial and ideological in nature: in the 19th century as part of the Great Game by the British, from 1979 by the Soviets and from 2001 by the Americans.