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  • Ghost Wars

  • The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001
  • Written by: Steve Coll
  • Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
  • Length: 26 hrs and 48 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (65 ratings)

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Ghost Wars cover art

Ghost Wars

Written by: Steve Coll
Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
Free with 30-day trial

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Publisher's Summary

Pulitzer Prize, General Nonfiction, 2005

Lionel Gelber Prize

New York Times Notable Book

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.

©2011 Steve Coll (P)2011 Penguin
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic Reviews

“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

What listeners say about Ghost Wars

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Compelling at every page

Loved this narrative of steve for 90s in south east Asia, but sad with fact that when i started listening this book ,Afghanistan again fall back in clutches of Taliban. Sad with current developments but hopeful for coming days.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

How they created the monster

Very elaborate account of birth and struggle of CIA and it's role in Afganistan. How the people in power deprioritise national interests and how overall auD policy towards middle east and south Asia has panned out in last few decades.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Five stars

Brilliant. A must read for anyone who is interested in the history and making of 9/11 attacks

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great Book....but audio quality is not great....

Audio skips at a number of points and in multiple chapters. May be there's not enough space between various sentences.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Insightful and detailed

Book provides a good perspective on post cold war forces shaping the geo politics , real emerging threats to global peace and complexities that even the most powerful , resourceful nations in the world couldn’t fathom, be decisive on policy and their larger role on global threats . Good narration!!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great insights

It provides great insights of what conspired behind the scenes till the day of carnage, how the political games were played, how governments were appeasing each other. The core focus though lies on CIAs strategy throughout, criticising the agency, but also the govt plots behind the scene. I felt what was missing, the other side of the story, which was briefly shared on the afghan side but how it effected the people over there in the years of turmoil. Well with taliban taking over Afghanistan now, it seems no lessons were learnt from the history.

Overall a very good book.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Rich in history

Plenty of information on the origin of cross border terrorism. The book shows how the covert war against the erstwhile Soviet Union led to the current threat of global radical terrorism. There are some places where the audio suddenly cuts off and some mistakes in pronouncing military hardware (Mi 17 ) is pronounced as Mig 17 . Otherwise a good listen.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

very informative, nicely edited. fluid reading

very impressive book. must read for people who love these topics.
brief, precise and fluid story telling.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing book

wonderful book to understand the rise of radical Islam and Al-Qaeda. The war of Afghanistan was presented in a wonderful way

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
  • SV
  • 22-11-21

Good book, but poorly edited audio

The book tells an interesting story and is well researched, but the audio recording let's it down with poor editing. The book is also very long, and might have been a lot better at 60-70% of its current length.

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