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Ghost Wars

The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invas ion to September 10, 2001

The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invas ion to September 10, 2001

The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invas ion to September 10, 2001

By Steve Coll

By Steve Coll

By Steve Coll

By Steve Coll

By Steve Coll
Read by Malcolm Hillgartner

By Steve Coll
Read by Malcolm Hillgartner

Best Seller
Paperback $22.00

Dec 28, 2004 | ISBN 9780143034667

Ebook $11.99

Dec 28, 2004 | ISBN 9781101221433

Audiobook Download $17.50

Oct 27, 2011 | 1609 Minutes

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    Ghost Wars by Steve Coll
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    About Ghost Wars

    Winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize

    “The CIA itself would be hard put to beat his grasp of global events . . . Deeply satisfying.” —The New York Review of Books

    From the award-winning and bestselling author of Directorate S, the explosive first-hand account of America’s secret history in Afghanistan.

    To what extent did America’s best intelligence analysts grasp the rising thread of Islamist radicalism? Who tried to stop bin Laden and why did they fail? Comprehensively and for the first time, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Steve Coll recounts the history of the covert wars in Afghanistan that fueled Islamic militancy and sowed the seeds of the September 11 attacks. Based on scrupulous research and firsthand accounts by key government, intelligence, and military personnel both foreign and American, Ghost Wars details the secret history of the CIA’s role in Afghanistan (including its covert operations against Soviet troops from 1979 to 1989), the rise of the Taliban, the emergence of bin Laden, and the failed efforts by U.S. forces to find and assassinate bin Laden in Afghanistan.

    About Ghost Wars

    Winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize

    “The CIA itself would be hard put to beat his grasp of global events . . . Deeply satisfying.” —The New York Review of Books

    From the award-winning and bestselling author of Directorate S, the explosive first-hand account of America’s secret history in Afghanistan.

    To what extent did America’s best intelligence analysts grasp the rising thread of Islamist radicalism? Who tried to stop bin Laden and why did they fail? Comprehensively and for the first time, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Steve Coll recounts the history of the covert wars in Afghanistan that fueled Islamic militancy and sowed the seeds of the September 11 attacks. Based on scrupulous research and firsthand accounts by key government, intelligence, and military personnel both foreign and American, Ghost Wars details the secret history of the CIA’s role in Afghanistan (including its covert operations against Soviet troops from 1979 to 1989), the rise of the Taliban, the emergence of bin Laden, and the failed efforts by U.S. forces to find and assassinate bin Laden in Afghanistan.

    About Ghost Wars

    The explosive first-hand account of America’s secret history in Afghanistan

    With the publication of Ghost Wars, Steve Coll became not only a Pulitzer Prize winner, but also the expert on the rise of the Taliban, the emergence of Bin Laden, and the secret efforts by CIA officers and their agents to capture or kill Bin Laden in Afghanistan after 1998.

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

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    Also by Steve Coll

    Directorate S
    Private Empire
    The Bin Ladens
    On the Grand Trunk Road
    See all books by Steve Coll

    Also by Steve Coll

    Directorate S
    Private Empire
    The Bin Ladens
    On the Grand Trunk Road
    See all books by Steve Coll

    Also by Steve Coll

    Directorate S
    Private Empire
    The Bin Ladens
    On the Grand Trunk Road
    See all books by Steve Coll

    About Steve Coll

    Steve Coll is the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Ghost Wars and the dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, and from 2007 to 2013 was president of the New America Foundation, a public policy institute in Washington, D.C. He… More about Steve Coll

    About Steve Coll

    Steve Coll is the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Ghost Wars and the dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, and from 2007 to 2013 was president of the New America Foundation, a public policy institute in Washington, D.C. He… More about Steve Coll

    About Steve Coll

    Steve Coll is the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Ghost Wars and the dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, and from 2007 to 2013 was president of the New America Foundation, a public policy institute in Washington, D.C. He… More about Steve Coll

    Product Details

    Category: Domestic Politics | Middle Eastern World History

    Paperback | $22.00
    Published by Penguin Books
    Dec 28, 2004 | 736 Pages | 5-1/2 x 8-7/16 | ISBN 9780143034667

    Category: Domestic Politics | Middle Eastern World History

    Ebook | $11.99
    Published by Penguin Books
    Dec 28, 2004 | 738 Pages | ISBN 9781101221433

    Category: Domestic Politics | Middle Eastern World History | Audiobooks

    Audiobook Download | $17.50
    Published by Penguin Audio
    Oct 27, 2011 | 1609 Minutes | ISBN 9781101548981
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    Praise

    “Certainly the finest historical narrative so far on the origins of al Qaeda in the post-Soviet rubble of Afghanistan . . . Ghost Wars provides fresh details and helps explain the motivations behind many crucial decisions.” —The New York Times Book Review

    “The CIA itself would be hard put to beat his grasp of global events . . . Deeply satisfying.” —The New York Review of Books
     
    “A well written, authoritative, high-altitude drama with few heroes, many villains, bags of cash, and a tragic ending—one that may not have been inevitable.” —The Washington Post

    Awards

    Lionel Gelber Prize WINNER

    New York Times Notable Book WINNER

    Pulitzer Prize (Non-Fiction) WINNER

    Table Of Contents

    List of Maps
    Principal Characters

    Prologue: Accounts Receivable – September 1996

    Part One: Blood Brothers – November 1979 to February 1989


    1. “We’re Going to Die Here

    2. “Lenin Taught Us”

    3. “Go Raise Hell”

    4. “I Loved Osama”

    5. “Don’t Make It Our War”

    6. “Who Is This Massoud?”

    7. “The Terrorists Will Own the World”

    8. “Inshallah, You Will Know My Plans”

    9. “We Won”

    Part Two: The One-Eyed Man Was King – March 1989 to December 1997

    10. “Serious Risks”

    11. “A Rogue Elephant”

    12. “We Are in Danger”

    13. “A Friend of Your Enemy”

    14. “Maintain a Prudent Distance”

    15. “A New Generation”

    16. “Slowly, Slowly Sucked into It”

    17. “Dangling the Carrot”

    18. “We Couldn’t Indict Him”

    19. “We’re Keeping These Stingers”

    20. “Does America Need the CIA?”

    Part Three: The Distant Enemy – January 1998 to September 10, 2001

    21. “You Are to Capture Him Alive”

    22. “The Kingdom’s Interests”

    23. “We Are at War”

    24. “Let’s Just Blow the Thing Up”

    25. “The Manson Family”

    26. “That Unit Disappeared”

    27. “You Crazy White Guys”

    28. “Is There Any Policy?”

    29. “Daring Me to Kill Them”

    30. “What Face Will Omar Show to God?”

    31. “Many Americans Are Going to Die”

    32. “What an Unlucky Country”

    Notes
    Bibliography
    Acknowledgements
    Index

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