Moscow: OLMA-PRESS, 2003, 383 p. (c) 2004 MILAN HAUNER There are at least three reasons why a book on Afghanistan during the last World War would today attract large audiences. As the book title suggests one reason could be that the fast expending genre of World War II literature on spies, agents, conspiracies, and cipher wars has finally reached Afghanistan and offered to combine unknown suspense with exotics. The second reason is more sober, namely the sensitivity of Russian readership to the subject of Afghanistan, where less than twenty years ago a vicious Soviet-Afghan War was fought. The third reason is unique. It deals with the fascinating episode of escape page 205 through Afghanistan of the most important Indian revolutionary of the period, Subhas Chandra Bose. He was also the only Asian revolutionary who, after escaping from India, pursued his aims in both Europe and Asia. First he came to Europe by land via the Soviet Union during the Nazi- Soviet Pact to collaborate with Germany. When he found Hitler unwilling to support India's independence struggle from the British rule, he returned in 1943 to Asia by submarine to seek Japan's support. Within the same year Bose proclaimed in Singapore the Azad Hind (Free India) government and himself as a quasi-Fuehrer (Netaji). Although Bose spent less than two months in Afghanistan between January and March 1941, his escort from India Bhagat Ram, alias Rahmat Khan, became after Bose's departure to Berlin the chief conduit between Axis agents in Kabul and Indian underground for the preparation of a large-scale uprising against the British Raj. As a result of this unique function Bhagat Ram turned into a multiple agent collaborating with practically all intelligence services available in Kabul during the war. His exploits no doubt would make a wonderful script for a Hollywood spy movie. In his memoirs published after the war Bhagat Ram only fully admitted that he was working for the Axis Powers, made some allusions tha ... Read more