Friday, May 27, 2011

Friday Find: Charlie Wilson's war by George Crile

Charlie Wilson's war by George CrileThe extraordinary story of the covert operation that changed the history of our times In the last decade, two events have transformed the world: the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of militant Islam. There is one man that links them, and his name is Charlie Wilson. In the early 1980s, Wilson - a Texan congressman on the House Appropriations Committee - learned of a ragged band of Afghan 'freedom fighters' whose aim was to resist their Soviet invaders. Wilson became passionate about their cause and managed to procure hundreds of millions of dollars to support them. This is the first book to uncover Wilson's covert deals with the men who would become known as the mujahideen. George Crile spent nearly a decade researching and writing this original account of the biggest, most expensive secret war in history: the arming of the Afghan resistance to Soviet occupation. Moving from the secret chambers in CIA headquarters to stand-offs in the Khyber Pass, Charlie Wilson's War is one of the most thorough and vivid descriptions of CIA operations ever written. It is the missing chapter in the geopolitics of our time.

4 comments:

Nise' said...

I did not realize this was a book. I've seen the movie.

bermudaonion said...

I heard the movie was great and I bet the book is even better.

Yvonne Osborne said...

Yes, Charlie Wilson's War was a great movie, though I did not read the book. Often if I see a movie I will not later read the book because the movie spoils it for me.
If more people were watching movies and reading books like this one, rather then all the "dumb and dumber" out there and the fantasy, vampire claptrap, this world would be a better place. Good post.

Unknown said...

I only know this story from the movie version. I can sympathize with any group fighting against a foreign invader, but I can't help but wonder if we would have been better off if Mr. Wilson had stayed out of it. Afghanistan might have been better off, as well. It's one of those nagging questions.