The Wind Blows Away Our Words Year First Published: 1987 First Published by: Picador Category: Non-Fiction This Edition: British first edition, softcover original ISBN: 0-330-30076-8

From the cover: In the face of sophisticated weapons of destruction and more than 100,000 Russian troops, the warriors of the Afghan Resistance - the Muhjahadin - continue their fight for freedom, although there are Western journalists who seem anxious to claim that the war is over. Some of the most extraordinary battles of our time have been fought between armies of tanks and gunships, and ragged men, women and children armed with home-made grenades, catapults and ancient rifles. Over the years, Doris Lessing has been involved with the Resistance through the aid organisation Afghan Relief. In September 1986 she flew to Pakistan to see for herself the conditions of the refugees and to talk to the leaders of the Muhjahadin. Going to Peshawar she has been told, dont bother to expect anything because it wont happen. But it did. She met and interviewed Muhjahadin commanders and leaders of the political Parties. She saw the awful plight of the refugees, of whom there are now over 4,000,000. And she talked to ordinary women who, unlike the men who present themselves as intrepid and heroic, told her at once what it was really like, how terrible, how frightening, how they suffered, how the suffer now. During the war beautiful parts of the country were reduced to desert, ancient towns full of art treasures bombed flat. One out of three Afghans is now dead or in exile or living in refugee camps. And the world remains largely indifferent. The Wind Blows Away Our Words is an impassioned attempt to change that. Also see: American Edition