Charlie Wilson's War is the untold story behind the last battle of the Cold War and how it fueled the rise of militant Islam. George Crile tells how Charlie Wilson, a maverick congressman from east Texas, conspired with a rogue CIA operative to launch the biggest, meanest, and most successful covert operation in the Agency's history.
In the early 1980s, after a Houston socialite turned Wilson's attention to the ragged Afghan freedom fighters who continued to fight the Soviet invaders despite overwhelming odds, the congressman became passionate about their cause and procured hundreds of millions of dollars to support the mujahedeen.
Moving from the back rooms of the Capitol, to secret chambers at Langley, to arms-dealers conventions, to the Khyber Pass, this book is a detailed and brilliantly reported account of the inside workings of the CIA.
Inspired by the courage of the under-armed mujahideen in Afghanistan in their fight against the Soviet Union in the early 1980s, colorful Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson used all his political savvy, and a compliant CIA operative, to instigate the largest covert war in U.S. history. Narrator Christopher Lane effects an even tone and pace, allowing the events of the story to propel the listener through the extraordinary highs and sickening lows of the flawed but heroic Wilson. Thankfully, Lane takes it easy on the accents and shines brightest when allowing a tinge of cynicism in his delivery. Wilson's war may have helped end the Cold War, but did it embolden the victors, bringing on the current war on terrorism? That answer is left to the listener. R.O. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
About the Author
George Crile is a veteran producer for 60 Minutes and 60 Minutes II. He lives in New York with his wife and four daughters.
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