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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

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
By George Crile

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Product Description

Charlie Wilson's War was a publishing sensation and a New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times bestseller. In the early 1980s, a Houston socialite turned the attention of maverick Texas congressman Charlie Wilson to the ragged band of Afghan "freedom fighters" who continued, despite overwhelming odds, to fight the Soviet invaders. Wilson, who sat on the all-powerful House Appropriations Committee, managed to procure 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, this book 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.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #57561 in Books
  • Published on: 2004-04-22
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 560 pages

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Put the Tom Clancy clones back on the shelf; this covert-ops chronicle is practically impossible to put down. No thriller writer would dare invent Wilson, a six-feet-four-inch Texas congressman,liberal on social issues but rabidly anti-Communist, a boozer, engaged in serial affairs and wheeler-dealer of consummate skill. Only slightly less improbable is Gust Avrakotos, a blue-collar Greek immigrant who joined the CIA when it was an Ivy League preserve and fought his elitist colleagues almost as ruthlessly as he fought the Soviet Union in the Cold War's waning years. In conjunction with President Zia of Pakistan in the 1980s, Wilson and Arvakotos circumvented most of the barriers to arming the Afghan mujahideen-distance, money, law and internal CIA politics, to name a few. Their coups included getting Israeli-modified Chinese weapons smuggled into Afghanistan, with the Pakistanis turning a blind eye,and the cultivation of a genius-level weapons designer and strategist named Michael Vickers, a key architect of the guerrilla campaign that left the Soviet army stymied. The ultimate weapon in Afghanistan was the portable Stinger anti-aircraft missile, which eliminated the Soviet's Mi-24 helicopter gunships and began the train of events leading to the collapse of the U.S.S.R. and its satellites. A triumph of ruthless ability over scruples, this story has dominated recent history in the form of blowback: many of the men armed by the CIA became the Taliban's murderous enforcers and Osama bin Laden's protectors. Yet superb writing from Crile, a 60 Minutes producer, will keep even the most vigorous critics of this Contra-like affair reading to the end.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
A longtime Sixty Minutes producer investigates the expenditure of what eventually amounted to $1 billion a year to support Afghanistan's Mujahideen in their battle against the Soviets.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
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. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

This Book Kept My Interests4
Unreliable story of the CIA involvement in the Afghan War. Lots of insight of the secret in and out of our clandestine service. Interesting read but at the same time lots of grandstanding by the author toward the subject of the book which sometime seem a bit hard to believe. Recommended reading for anyone who is a history buff and would like to expand his/her detailed knowledge of the downfall of Communism and the last military action of the cold war. Don't bother to compare the movie; like most of the time, is the book according to Hollywood re writers. The movie is definitely not worth the money unless you receive it as a gift.

Engaging Read4
It's no wonder that the book took some 15 years in the making. Crile did extensive research with this book and it shows. I read this book this past weekend, while on vacation and thoroughly enjoyed it. It read like a fictional piece of international intrigue, yet it was based on real events and real people.

Crile wrote a great book that could have been written like an academic tome (dry), instead the characters were human with their hilarious attributes and flaws. I was drawn into it--rooting for Gust or Charlie, even though I knew the outcomes and had seen the movie based on the book.

The book offers a glimpse into the ways that real politics takes place in the USA and how back room deals, friendships, and back stabbing can make or break a career or a bill being passed in Congress.

The fact that Charlie Wilson became interested (perhaps obsessed) with the plight of Afghans was nothing short of just happenstance. And, the cast of characters who he worked with were a colorful group in all senses of the term. This book is written for the lay audience; although I do think an undergraduate audience would appreciate it. It is lengthy, but I tihnk the background provides understanding of the main characters.

What I would have liked-- an additonal chapter in lieu of the short epilogue. Crile needed to make better connections between the freedom fighters of the late 80s and early 90s and how the situation of these young men fed into extremist views.

That Charlie could do this is incredible3
This book discusses a part of politics that I have little knowledge. It is the story of a minor character in the US political process Charlie Wilson, a Democratic United States Representative from the 2nd congressional district in Texas. Before Charlie Wilson came, the US was already supplying some aid to the mujahideen. However soon the Pakistan's military ruler General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, started pushing for more financial aid to help them. Charlie Wilson decides to help the mujahideen in Afghanistan against the Soviet invaders. This book shows how mostly because to his efforts with a CIA officer Gust Avrakotos, a major international military supply program occurred involving many other countries including Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt.

I found it incredible and interesting but it contained too much trivia about the characters. It should have been much shorter.