Without this book, long since a global bestseller, it is already impossible to imagine both the history of the Afghan war—that unnecessary and unjust war—and the history of the final years of Soviet power, which was ultimately undermined by that war. The grief of the mothers of the “zinc boys” is inescapable; it is understandable that they want to know the truth about how and for what their sons fought and died in Afghanistan. But after learning this truth, many of them were horrified and refused it. Svetlana Alexievich’s book was judged “for slander”—the most real court, with a prosecutor, public accusers, and “support groups” in power and in the press. The materials from this shameful trial are also included in the new edition of “The Zinc Boys.”