Charlie Wilson's War

The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History

By: George Crile

Narrated by: Christopher Lane

Length: 20 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

Charlie Wilson’s War is the untold story of the last battle of the Cold War and how it fueled the rise of militant Islam. 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 mujahideen. The arms were secretly procured and distributed with the help of an out-of-favor CIA operative, Gust Avrokotos, whose working-class Greek-American background made him an anomaly among the Ivy League world of American spies. Avrakotos handpicked a staff of CIA outcasts to run his operation and, with their help, continually stretched the Agency’s rules to the breaking point.

Moving from the back rooms of the Capitol, to secret chambers at Langley, to arms-dealers conventions, to the Khyber Pass, Charlie Wilson’s War is a detailed and brilliantly reported account of the inside workings of the CIA.

©2003 George Crile (P)2004 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

• 2004 Audie Award Winner, Unabridged Nonfiction

"Crile, a 60 Minutes producer, offers an absorbing, thoroughly detailed look at the largest and most successful CIA operation in U.S. history: the arming of the Mujahideen in Afghanistan." (Booklist)
"An engaging, well-written, newsworthy study of practical politics and its sometimes unlikely players." (Kirkus Reviews)

“Narrator Christopher Lane affects an even tone and pace, allowing the events of the story to carry the listener to 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." ( AudioFile)

“Put the Tom Clancy clones back on the shelf; this covert-ops chronicle is practically impossible to put down.” ( Publishers Weekly)

Fascinating book

This is an excellent hearing. The book gives you a glimpse on how the covert activities were conducted in the United States. In addition, it also showed a fascinating life of how a normal congressman, after finding the meaning he truly belied, endeavored to achieve extraordinary results. After a short while, you get hooked. I sometimes stayed inside my car in my garage, just to finish a little bit more of listening. Great listening!

An excellent telling of an underappreciated event

Every American should understand this part of middle east history. On top of being an important part of history, this is a well-written and interesting book.

Ugly War, Great Book

I probably wouldn't have liked Charlie Wilson and Gust Avrakatos as professionals nor as men. I typically don't like the "end justifies the means" approach to solving problems, especially as we struggle and fight against the enemy that they armed. And perhaps I'm just an idealistic softy, but a vocal zeal to send Russian boys home in bodybags is not patriotic, but just a sad reality of an ugly war.

Having said all that, this book is excellent and I was captivated by it. The narration is flawless. The research is deep and thorough. I learned so much about the Middle East, Russia, the Cold War, the contras, the CIA and the results of what happens when rules, cautiousness and consequences are disregarded by passionate men. This audio will get your attention right away, but beware of the vulgarity if bad words tend to offend you.

I highly recommend this audiobook.

Charlie Wilson a Congressman Who Got It Done !!

Great book. Very, very informative on US Afghan relations with insight into Soviet and U.S. relations during Mikeil Gorbachev's tenure.

Enigmatic Mr. Wilson

What an interesting character in far more detail than the movie allowed. Perhaps a bit more detail than necessary keeps it from being a 5 star book, but it was worthwhile and quite interesting. One man made a significant difference in our history and that man was a strange contradiction.

riveting

It's about time that we heard about Viet Nam- Afghanistan nexus and got some insight into what has been going on. It gives all of us some insight into the future consequences of much information that has been denied to us.

The story of the defeat of the Russians in Afghanistan and the end of the Cold War was very well told and most interesting, but the consequences of the resultant rise of the current Muslim troubles remains largely unexplained. Like a dark cloud gathering...

Maxwell

My Best Review Ever!

I've heard over 50 audiobooks and this one is the first to garner a review from me. I LOVED IT! It is compelling non-fiction that reads like a classic historical fiction. Its goes beyond the headlines and shallow 2 minute news spots into a clandestine world most of us will never know. The power, passions, convictions and foibles of individuals in the CIA are enthralling. Its also sobering as to how anonymous the real movers and shakers of this world really are. A must have for political junkies and people who just want to better understand the politics of our world. A MUST HAVE!

One must review other sources as well.

This book is well written, well researched and well read. It reads like a spy novel. I would, however caution reader to follow up with research of there own. There is much that is left out of this book. Primarily that the US involvement in the Afghan war is what led to Pakistan's creation of an atomic bomb. A point touched on but not developed in this fascinating read. All in all this is a wonderful audiobook; and a great start to understanding the United States' tenuous relationship with the current Pakistani administration.

good but repititious

As the author says in the "epilogue", this is history that needs to be known, i.e., the CIA's involvement in Afganistan. This book, however, is too long because it is repetitious. The story of Charlie and Gust is compelling but could have been told far more succinctly.

Highly Recommended

Right from the start, this book kept me wanting more. A story so unbelievable it had to be true. No hollywood writer could have come up with a story like this (especially now adays). It shows how much power congressmen on appropriations have. Do yourself a favor and get this book.