Students in 11th grade history are learning about the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. When Russia invaded, they had hopes of propping up the pro-Soviet forces that had allied themselves with the Soviet Union.
Both Russia and Britain vied for control of this region in the 1800's. This interference was called "The Great Game," and Britain avidly fought to exert influence in the region to protect their interests in India.
George MacDonald Fraser set one of his Flashman novels during the Great Game. Flashman was a fictional character who ends up in all sorts of scrapes throughout the colonial British empire.
