might was well write an off the cuff Afghanistan (pre-2001) reading list.

Zinky Boys or Boys in Zinc by Svetlana Alexievich

A journal of the Soviet-Afghan war written by a dissident Soviet journalist. Similar to One Soldiers War but more "Our fresh faced soviet boys are being ground up in a nightmarish quagmire" than "I'm a mobik in a Russian nightmare war"

>Captivity and Conversion .. Soviet POWs in Afghanistan

A study of Soviet POWs and defectors in Afghanistan. Shows a lot of different experiences from defectors ideologically opposed to the war, war profiteers who switched sides for money, those fleeing Dedovshchina and those abandoned in captivity by their government until their own families paid a ransom (about 5 years after the war ended)

>Wings over the Hindu Kush by Lukas Muller

Osprey style book about the Afghan Civil War and all the shenanigans that happen when quasi-feudal warlords get their hands on Soviet fighter-bombers, tanks and SCUD missiles (and the ex-commie soldiers to properly operate them).

>The Forty-Year War in Afghanistan by Tariq Ali

The stuff about the war on terror is so so but the essays about the 90s Taliban, their ideology/formation and their alleged (but also actual) paymasters in Pakistani ISI are great.

>The Great Game by Peter Hopkirk

Hopkirk can really set the scene. Probably the most engaging 19th century history book I've read. It also does a good job explaining the historical context while also keeping your attention with examples of daring British explorers and farcical Russian military actions. Also it has the Dr. Najibullah seal of approval.

I could post more but I've had to rope in some weird ones like Jihad by Tom Carew.