About the book: 2017 / On April 27, 1978, the so-called Saur (April) Revolution, the country's President Mohammed Daoud, his family and associates were mercilessly killed, and power was seized by the left-wing People's Democratic Party led by Hafizullah Amin. A civil war began in the country. Exactly twenty months later, on December 27, 1979, Soviet special forces, who formally arrived to protect the Afghan leader, stormed his palace, and Amin himself was destroyed... It was these twenty months that became the reason for the “infection” of the Soviet Union with virus “A” - the Afghan war. One of its consequences is the collapse of the Soviet Union. Another consequence is the surge of radical Islam and terrorism, which has become one of the main threats to Russia. How did the Afghan government, which was in power for 20 months, become an enemy for Russia? The authors of the book answer this question. Vladimir Snegirev worked in Afghanistan for several years, representing leading media outlets there. He defended his dissertation on the modern history of the region. Valery Samunin - KGB foreign intelligence colonel, orientalist scientist, served in the Kabul station during the period of the events described.