Ghost Wars cover art

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

By: Steve Coll
Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
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About this listen

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 Asia Middle East Military War Iran Espionage Royalty Imperialism Africa Middle Ages

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
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Great story but very poorly edited.
It is a shame because it spoiled the experience.

Ghost Wars

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Performance: The narration was pretty good and the narrator even tries to imitate accent from some of the people involved in the story. However there are many interruptions in the audio. The audio suddenly cuts off and it does not start at exact point where it was broken.

Story (1): The story of this book minus the introduction almost follows a bottom-up approach, bombarding you with immense amount of information. The introduction on the other hand takes a top-down approach and gives you the big picture before diving to details in the following chapters. Given the reader/listener may not know the topic or fine details discussed in the book, it may come across as extremely long and hard to follow.

Story (2): This book seems to be very well researched and provides you with a lot of information. However, it may not be easy to digest them if you are not already familiar with the Middle East history and politics. If that is the case, I would suggest to listen/read to "Games Without Rules: The Often-Interrupted History of Afghanistan" also available at Audible first and then attempt this book.

Gives more info that you ever need to know :)

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A thorough and engaging expose of the CIA’s battle against Bin Laden and the factors that led up to the 9/11 attacks. Investigative journalism of the highest order. Highly recommended.

Only let down by some minor but irritating editing issues with the recording.

Epic journalism

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not as bad as some of the reviews here suggest, mostly just the occasional loss of a syllable at the end of sentences, but there are times when one might question if whole paragraphs or plot points have been missed, particularly toward the end of the book. i have checked this against the physical book and it is not the case, but it can be disorientating nonetheless.

still definitely worth listening to, given the excellent work of the author and the narrator.

brilliant book - bad editing.

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An insightful narrative with access to details. Naturally, the full picture is pending the release of withheld documents and details. Still, the book provides much needed understanding of the historical development and the complex roles and interests of multiple players.

Insightful even if not historically complete

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First off I would like to say this is a very interesting, highly detailed and very well researched book (the narration was very good as well). THAT BEING SAID....
The person who edited the audiobook version and who was in charge of quality control was either drunk or completely incompetent and they need to be fired..

At least once or twice every hour or so (if not more) It just cuts off mid sentence and starts on again somewhere else leaving you clueless about the content you might have missed. It is honestly UNACCEPTABLE.. The only reason I managed to finish the book is that i'm highly interested in the subject matter and I don't have the extra money lying around to buy the same damn book I already own but in a different form.

Still, if you're interested in the events that lead up to 9-11 en wat was happening in and around Afghanistan with the CIA, Massoud, Bin Laden, the Taliban and the Soviet occupation (and constant influence of Pakistan) This is a must read. JUST GET THE EBOOK VERSION. BE WARNED.

BE WARNED DO NOT BUY THE AUDIO VERSON!!!

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