The Afghan Campaign

A Novel

By: Steven Pressfield

Narrated by: James Langton

In words that might have been ripped from today's combat dispatches, Steven Pressfield, the best-selling novelist of ancient warfare, returns with a riveting historical novel that re-creates Alexander the Great's invasion of the Afghan kingdoms in 330 B.C., a campaign that eerily foreshadows the tactics, terrors, and frustrations of contemporary conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Narrated by Matthias, a young infantryman in Alexander's army, The Afghan Campaign explores the challenges, both military and moral, that Alexander and his soldiers face as they embark on a new type of war and are forced to adapt to the methods of a ruthless foe that employs terror and insurgent tactics, conceals itself among the civilian populace, and recruits women and boys as combatants.

Matthias joins Alexander's army after it has conquered the Persian empire and is advancing east into Afghanistan on its way to the riches of India. Part of a unit that includes recruits his own age as well as veterans, Matthias chronicles his rapid coming-of-age as a soldier as he enacts Alexander's scorch-and-burn strategies, experiences the joys and sorrows of a romance with an Afghan girl, and faces the barbarism of the Afghans, his fellow soldiers, and ultimately himself. As Matthias relates the brutal day-to-day encounters between the two sides, he exposes the human cost borne by a company of men whose code is humanist and secular when they seek to impose their will on a people of deep religiosity, insularity, unbending pride, and a passionate readiness to die for their cause.

An edge-of-your-seat adventure that brings to life the confrontation between an invading Western army and fierce Eastern warriors determined at all costs to defend their homeland, The Afghan Campaign once again demonstrates Steven Pressfield's profound understanding of the hopes and desperation of men in battle and of the historical realities that continue to influence our world.

©2006 Steven Pressfield (P)2006 Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Pressfield's battlefield scenes rank with the most convincing ever written: you can almost feel the slash of sword on skin and sense the shattering mix of panic, bravery, blood lust, and despair." (USA Today)

The Afghan Campaign is Wonderful, but

The Afghan Campaign is a wonderful book but the narrator skips paragraphs in the book. This drives me crazy so I returned to just reading the book.

Excellent

A great first person narrative of a soldier (infantry and then becomes cavalry) in Alexander
The Greats Afghanistan campaign.
What is striking the similarities of the order of battle even in comparison to today. The description of the Afghan tribesman are fascinating.

The ending 😔

Wish it was a longer story and went into more detail of the protagonists past life

Good and timely story

A tightly-written and entertaining military historical fiction. His descriptions of battles are excellent. Best of all was the performer, who is pitch-perfect.

interesting read

interesting read, entertaining but informative. great narration, story moved along briskly and most certainly recommend.

Some care in casting narrators would be appreciated.

The cultured voice of a metrosexual academic is hardly fitting for a soldier’s story. Otherwise it’s classic Pressfield.

👌

It's an interesting piece of historical fiction. Makes you really appreciate the diverging moral code of the Middle East.

The Afghan Campaign

I read The Afghan Campaign back in 2007 and still, to this day, is my favourite book. Though the audio book leaves out a few things here and there I still found it enjoyable and would recommend it to anyone interested in the subject, as it is eerily applicable to the experiences of the British, Soviets and now the United States.

really relatable

this book really reminds me of my tour in Afghanistan. I will say that my tour was nowhere near as traumatic or intense but it was definitely relatable especially with the people aspect

Pressfield!

Another amazing story from the master of the ancient battlefield Steven Pressfield. Great performance brings Pressfield’s work to life. Highly recommend.