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Ghost Wars

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

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Ghost Wars

Written by: Steve Coll
Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
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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. Asia Freedom & Security Middle East Military Politics & Government War & Crisis Wars & Conflicts War Iran Espionage Royalty Africa Imperialism Middle Ages Soviet Union Socialism Self-Determination
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What the critics say

“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
All stars
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Very informative and detailed description of everything that happened behind the scenes. Well read by author

Fascinating

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Author had no agenda, just gave the facts which is rare these days, and adds value to the book.

Honest and informative

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while its long and complicated, i never had trouble getting into it. its hard for me tell, but it seemed unbiased and objective, and presented the events clearly but with enough color that it wasnt dry. the only reason i gave four stars is that because a story with this scope and breadth of characters, if one is really to get a firm grasp, and the effort would be well spent, a list of the men and women involved and a brief description of their role and the dates of their involvement is absolutely necessary. that being said, the narrator did a great job of consistently pronouncing, or mispronouncing i cant tell, Arabic Afghani Pakistani Uzbek etc names throughout the book so there was no added confusion. what an unlucky country!

fascinating stuff

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this book is really good if you are interested in the story of politics and intelligence leading up to 9/11. due to the level of detail it might not be best suited for a general audience, though. that said of the books I've read on 9/11 this is def at the top. it is really interesting how Coll tells the story without talking about the actual events of the day. also the focus on ending it with Massoud's death is sad but the perfect way to finish this part of the story.

great book for specific audience

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Great story. But the narrator does accents when quoting ethnic people. The accent is super bad and it’s distracting more than anything.

Lose the accent

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