Ghost Wars

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

By Steve Coll
(Penguin Books, Paperback, 9780143034667, 738pp.)

Publication Date: December 28, 2004

Other Editions of This Title: Paperback, Audio Cassette, Compact Disc, MP3 CD, Audio Cassette, Hardcover

Categories: Asia - Central Asia, Conspiracy & Scandal Investigations, Political Freedom & Security - Terrorism

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Steve Coll is most recently the author of the New York Times bestseller The Bin Ladens. He is the president of the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan public policy institute headquartered in Washington, D.C., and a staff writer for The New Yorker. Previously heworked for twenty years at The Washington Post, where he received a Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism in 1990. He is the author of six other books, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller Ghost Wars.

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The conflict in Afghanistan dominates headlines, but many people seek a deeper understanding of the country and the war the U.S. is fighting there. In the first of a series of suggestions for an Afghanistan "reading list," Washington Post special military correspondent Tom Ricks shares his recommendations, ranging from a collection of Afghan proverbs, to a history of the CIA's involvement in the country. More at NPR.org

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"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