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Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of How the Wildest Man in Congress and a Rogue CIA Agent Changed the History of Our Times | 
| Author: George Crile
Publisher: Grove Press
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  184 reviews
Sales Rank: 2057
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reissue
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 560
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.2
ISBN: 0802143415
Dewey Decimal Number: 958.1045
EAN: 9780802143419
ASIN: 0802143415
Publication Date: November 6, 2007
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Product Description
A gripping and vibrant book soon to be released as a major motion picture starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts and directed by Mike Nichols, Charlie Wilson’s War was a New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times best seller when it was published in 2003. Crile’s book is the true story of how a Texas Congressman and a rogue CIA agent conspired to launch the biggest, meanest, and most successful CIA campaign ever — the operation to fund the mujahideen in their fight against the Soviet army that had invaded Afghanistan. Moving from the back rooms of the Capitol to secret chambers at Langley, from arms dealers’ conventions to the Khyber Pass, Charlie Wilson’s War presents an astonishing chapter of our recent past, and the key to understanding what helped trigger the sudden collapse of the Soviet Union and ultimately led to the emergence of a brand-new foe in the form of radical Islam.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 179 more reviews...
 Bad Writing of a Good Story May 13, 2008
I read the book after I had seen the movie (which was a lot of fun) to find out more about what really happened. Well, I did find out, but was quite disappointed.
The book was not nearly as enjoyable as the movie. This was not because it was too political-analytical (I can handle political-analytical), but because it was not very well written. The author could not decide if he wanted to write a political-factual account or a novelistic thriller. Or rather he tried a novelistic thriller, but was just not good at it. So the book is too long, with too many cliches, at times fluffy when it should be precise, at times repetitious, and the psychology of the characters, especially of the Muslim characters, is rather flat. What this book really needs is a good editor and two or three re-writes.
All this it too bad, because the facts behind the book are indeed astonishing and it covers a piece of recent history that is well worth knowing. Read it -- but do not expect too much pleasure.
Charlie Wilson's War, part 1? May 12, 2008
Charlie Wilson's War should be considered part 1 of a CIA trilogy, to be followed by Steve Coll's Ghost Wars and George Tenet's At the Center of the Storm
Charlie Did It May 7, 2008
Whether or not you completely buy Zia-ul-Haq's assertion that Charlie Wilson was almost single-handedly responsible for the Mujahideen victory over the Soviet Union in the Afghan War, George Crile's fascinating book makes it clear that he played a decisive role in the eventual victory, and by extension, the collapse of Communism, which followed shortly thereafter. From his seat on the Defense appropriations subcommittee, this little-known Texas Congressman with a taste for the good life managed to build a bizarre coalition of allies, including a Texas socialite, a street-wise CIA agent, and the Governments of Pakistan, Egypt, Israel, and Saudi Arabia. These seeming blood enemies were united by two things their love and respect for Charlie, and their desire to kill Russians. Crile chronicles the way in which Charlie was able to greatly increase the CIA's budget to fight the war, using any means at his disposal, constantly blurring the line between illegal activities. After winning the funding, he was surprised to find that his toughest battle was yet to come. He had to fight against the agency's bureaucracy to get them to spend the money on weapons (many supplied by his contacts in foreign governments) which he thought would tip the balance in favor of the Afghans, eventually including the Stinger missile which proved to be the war's decisive weapon.
Crile's writing reads like an Ian Fleming novel at times, and he does a great job of exploring the inner forces which drove Wilson to pursue his personal crusade against communism while simultaneously battling his own inner demons. The author refrains from making value judgments throughout the book, ultimately letting the readers decide for themselves who Charlie Wilson is. Is he Good-Time-Charlie, the egotistical, power-hungry substance-abusing ladies man who often behaved as if the laws that he helped make didn't apply to him? Or is he a hero who vanquished the evil empire, championed the underdog, and used his power to help the powerless, while spreading freedom throughout the world? The truth lies somewhere in between. At the very least Charlie Wilson's War is a cautionary tale of how powerful one congressperson can be.
Some people have criticized Crile, saying that he failed to emphasize the way in which the events that Charlie helped set in motion may have led to the events of September 11th, 2001. In response I would say that this is merely one man's story, a small segment of a much larger war. Those interested in a more comprehensive picture of the CIA's operations in Afghanistan should read Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 by Steve Coll.
My only criticism of the book was that the writing became repetitive whenever a character was re-introduced to the story after being absent from the narrative for a chapter or two. It seemed as if he repeated the same biographical details at least three times for some characters.
This is the first Kindle book I've read that used footnotes, and I'm pleased to report that they worked perfectly.
Very Detailed Account Of A National Embarrassment May 6, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
George Crile has written a great book about a huge national failing. While I applaud Wilson for his staunch anti-communist principles, I found it utterly repugnant that a loose cannon congressman could (and would) use every form of political trickery and heavy-handedness to pursue his personal vendetta against the Russians in Afghanistan in contravention to established constitutional principles. Amazingly, I found the brilliant blue-collar CIA operative Gust Avrakotos much more likeable and professional (believe it or not) than Wilson by comparison.
Crile makes a point of telling the story from as many vantage points as possible, and always attempts to provide not only accounts of the actions of all the principals involved, but tries to analyze their motivations as well. The book is exceedingly well documented for a work of this nature, and Crile has certainly written the most important book on US involvement in the Afghan war. I came away from reading this much enlightened, but ultimately disillusioned that a single blowhard congressman could not only secretly commit the country to a war not being directed from the executive branch, but could repeatedly be re-elected by a largely conservative base when he repeatedly and routinely committed gross ethical, moral, and legal offences: I was singularly unamused by his chronic self-absorption, self-aggrandizement, and self-destruction. Wilson hijacked the foreign policy of the United States and inserted the country into a proxy war in Afghanistan, a decision that has had huge implications since. Amazingly, even in a post-9/11 world, Wilson refuses to take any responsibility for his part in the extraordinarily adverse geopolitical fallout of providing huge caches of weapons and training to extremists in Afghanistan.
I kept wanting to find redeeming or lovable qualities about Wilson, as so many others apparently do, but at every turn I found a national embarrassment, allied with an extremely unsavory group of individuals, contravening the intentions of US law and policy. No congressman should be able to appropriate, wheedle, extort such power, or enact such consequential policies on their own whim, no matter how noble his intentions. Charlie Wilson is the embodiment of political seediness, and George Crile has captured it all in "Charlie Wilson's War".
I endorse this book wholeheartedly as a cautionary tale.
 Charlie is my Hero... May 5, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
...and I say that as a middle-of-the-road Republican who has voted in every election since Nixon. This is a GREAT story, and a FANTASTIC read for anyone. The fact that it's "history" as well is just icing on the cake. Read the book, see the movie, LEARN something! ;)
Handing the Red Army - and Russia itself - a signal defeat (I use the term advisedly...the Red Army didn't "LOSE" it's war anymore than the US soldiers didn't "LOSE" their war in Viet Nam...politics and economics decided the outcome of both) at that point in time definitely made a significant contribution to the end of the Cold War. That's the "upside".
Having religious fanatics believe (because the logistics for arms and supplies were so carefully hidden/scrubbed) that they can 'prevail' against a major world power because 'their faith is strong' is the (continuing) downside.
Cap'n Bob
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