''Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001'', abbreviated as ''Ghost Wars'', is a book written by
Steve Coll
Steve Coll (born October 8, 1958) is an American journalist, academic and executive.
He is currently the dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he is also the Henry R. Luce Professor of Journalism. A staff writer f ...
, published in 2004 by
Penguin Press.
It won the 2005
Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction
The Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are awarded annually for the "Letters, Drama, and Music" category. The award is given to a nonfiction book written by an American author and published duri ...
.
Summary
The book provides an in-depth account of
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
activity in Afghanistan from the time of the
Soviet invasion to the aftermath of
attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Coll particularly notes the interplay between the CIA and its counterpart in Pakistan,
Inter-Services Intelligence
The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI; ur, , bayn khadamatiy mukhabarati) is the premier intelligence agency of Pakistan. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing any information from around the world that is deemed relevant ...
, which used CIA and Saudi Arabian funding to build militant
Mujahideen training camps along the
Pakistan–Afghanistan border in an effort to create radicalized, militant fighters sourced from many Arab countries to attack the Soviet occupation. Invariably, as Coll shows, this decision had long-lasting effects on the region.
Expanded edition and follow-up
Penguin published a slightly expanded edition in 2005 that added the work of the
9/11 Commission.
In 2011, Coll announced a follow-up to ''Ghost Wars''. When asked about a release date for the book, Coll said "It will take a while. ... I'd like the second volume to hold up over time."
Awards
Steve Coll won the 2004
Lionel Gelber Prize
The Lionel Gelber Prize is a literary award for English non-fiction books on foreign policy. Founded in 1989 by Canadian diplomat Lionel Gelber, the prize awards "the world’s best non-fiction book in English on foreign affairs that seeks to deep ...
for ''Ghost Wars''.
The work also received the 2005
Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction.
See also
*''
Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History''
References
External links
*
*
Steve Coll discusses ''Ghost Wars''at the
Pritzker Military Museum & Library
2004 non-fiction books
American history books
History books about Afghanistan
Books about intelligence analysis
War on Terror books
Non-fiction books about the Central Intelligence Agency
21st-century history books
Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction-winning works
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