Charlie Wilson's War
The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History
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Narrated by:
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Christopher Lane
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By:
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George Crile
About this listen
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 AudiobooksListeners also enjoyed...
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Editorial reviews
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)
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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The key to understanding the calamitous Afghan war is the complex, ultimately failed relationship between the powerful, duplicitous Karzai family and the United States, brilliantly portrayed here by the former Kabul bureau chief for The Washington Post.
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Fabulous
- By Charles S. on 10-23-23
By: Joshua Partlow
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Legacy of Ashes
- The History of the CIA
- By: Tim Weiner
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 21 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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This is the book the CIA does not want you to read. For the last 60 years, the CIA has maintained a formidable reputation in spite of its terrible record, never disclosing its blunders to the American public. It spun its own truth to the nation while reality lay buried in classified archives. Now, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter Tim Weiner offers a stunning indictment of the CIA, a deeply flawed organization that has never deserved America's confidence.
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Flawed but Important
- By Michael on 07-18-08
By: Tim Weiner
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The Art of Betrayal
- The Secret History of MI6 - Life and Death in the British Secret Service
- By: Gordon Corera
- Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm
- Length: 17 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
From Berlin to the Congo, from Moscow to the back streets of London, these are the stories of the agents on the front lines of British intelligence. And the truth is often more remarkable than fiction.
MI6 has been cloaked in secrecy and shrouded in myth since it was created a hundred years ago. Our understanding of what it is to be a spy has been largely defined by the fictional worlds of Ian Fleming and John le Carré. Gordon Corera provides a unique and unprecedented insight into this secret world and the reality that lies behind the fiction.
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Good details but lacks thorough research
- By Unapologetic on 09-06-17
By: Gordon Corera
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War on Peace
- The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence
- By: Ronan Farrow
- Narrated by: Ronan Farrow
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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American diplomacy is under siege. Offices across the State Department sit empty while abroad, the military-industrial complex has assumed the work once undertaken by peacemakers. We're becoming a nation that shoots first and asks questions later. In an astonishing account ranging from Washington, DC, to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and North Korea in the years since 9/11, acclaimed journalist and former diplomat Ronan Farrow illuminates one of the most consequential and poorly understood changes in American history.
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Well Timed and Authoritative:
- By JC on 04-24-18
By: Ronan Farrow
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Debriefing the President
- The Interrogation of Saddam Hussein
- By: John Nixon
- Narrated by: John Nixon
- Length: 5 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In December 2003, after one of the largest, most aggressive manhunts in history, US military forces captured Iraqi president Saddam Hussein near his hometown of Tikrit. Beset by body-double rumors and false alarms during a nine-month search, the Bush administration needed positive identification of the prisoner before it could make the announcement that would rocket around the world. At the time John Nixon was a senior CIA leadership analyst who had spent years studying the Iraqi dictator.
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Not What You Think It Is
- By Doug on 01-10-17
By: John Nixon
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The Operators
- The Wild and Terrifying Inside Story of America's War in Afghanistan
- By: Michael Hastings
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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An explosive, behind-the-scenes look into the workings of the U.S. war in Afghanistan that lifts the curtain of the world stage to reveal the devastating greed, waste, and failure surrounding this unwinnable war.
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VERY INTERESTING STORY
- By Professor on 01-04-13
By: Michael Hastings
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The Accidental President
- Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World
- By: A. J. Baime
- Narrated by: Tony Messano
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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The dramatic, pulse-pounding story of Harry Truman's first four months in office, when this unlikely president had to take on Germany, Japan, Stalin, and the atomic bomb, with the fate of the world hanging in the balance.
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Exceptional
- By Jean on 11-14-17
By: A. J. Baime
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The Brilliant Disaster
- JFK, Castro, and America's Doomed Invasion of Cuba
- By: Jim Rasenberger
- Narrated by: Bob Walter
- Length: 17 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The U.S.-backed military invasion of Cuba in 1961 remains one of the most ill-fated blunders in American history, with echoes of the event reverberating even today. Despite the Kennedy administration’s initial public insistence that the United States had nothing to do with the invasion, it soon became clear that the complex operation had been planned and approved by the best and brightest minds at the highest reaches of Washington, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff and President John F. Kennedy himself.
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US Government Perspective
- By Kindle Customer on 05-25-11
By: Jim Rasenberger
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The Fourth Star
- Four Generals and the Epic Struggle for the Future of the United States Army
- By: David Cloud, Greg Jaffe
- Narrated by: Richard McGonagle
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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They were four exceptional soldiers, a new generation asked to save an army that had been hollowed out after Vietnam. They survived the military's brutal winnowing to reach its top echelon. They became the Army's most influential generals in the crucible of Iraq. Collectively, their lives tell the story of the Army over the last four decades and illuminate the path it must travel to protect the nation over the next century.
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Learning from the Military
- By Joshua Kim on 06-10-12
By: David Cloud, and others
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The Main Enemy
- The Inside Story of the CIA's Final Showdown with the KGB
- By: Milton Bearden, James Risen
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 19 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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A landmark collaboration between a thirty-year veteran of the CIA and a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, The Main Enemy is the inside story of the CIA-KGB spy wars, told through the actions of the men who fought them. Based on hundreds of interviews with operatives from both sides, The Main Enemy puts us inside the heads of CIA officers as they dodge surveillance and walk into violent ambushes in Moscow. This is the story of the generation of spies who came of age in the shadow of the Cuban missile crisis and rose to run the CIA and KGB in the last days of the Cold War.
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A masterpiece of espionage history
- By kucherv on 08-21-18
By: Milton Bearden, and others
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Who Ate the First Oyster?
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Who wore the first pants? Who painted the first masterpiece? Who first rode the horse? Who invented soap? This madcap adventure across ancient history uses everything from modern genetics to archaeology to uncover the geniuses behind these and other world-changing innovations. With a sharp sense of humor and boundless enthusiasm for the wonders of our ancient ancestors, Who Ate the First Oyster? profiles the perpetrators of the greatest firsts and catastrophes of prehistory.
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It could be better...
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Inge's War
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Ordinary German Citizens Caught Up
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Atomic Spy
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German by birth, British by naturalization, Communist by conviction, Klaus Fuchs was a fearless Nazi resister, a brilliant scientist, and an infamous spy. He was convicted of espionage by Britain in 1950 for handing over the designs of the plutonium bomb to the Russians and has gone down in history as one of the most dangerous agents in American and British history. He put an end to America's nuclear hegemony and single-handedly heated up the Cold War. But, was Klaus Fuchs really evil?
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Morally revolting -- a player in mass murder cast as a saint
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What listeners say about Charlie Wilson's War
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- BostonLady
- 07-31-04
Awesome Book!
I read this last summer before it came out on audio; loved it because it sucks you right in, like a good book should! I have gone on to read other books about that period.
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23 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Suzanne
- 01-08-08
Everything IS a conspiracy!
Typically, I avoid political books, non-fiction or fiction. But, before I saw the anticipated movie, I wanted to listen to this book. It is well read. It reads like an intriguing novel and I kept reminding myself that this is supposed to be real-life. Every once in a while, the footnotes help keep this in perspective. I loved this book. The character development of each of the key players made them real with nuances of good and bad, of strengths and weaknesses. Then, the author tied each of the characters into their relationships with Charlie Wilson and what their impact was on him and his dream effort. The surprising fact coming out of this book is the fact that there is an extreme amount of money and goals that happens without Americans ever knowing what is going on. I lived through the extensive media coverage of the "crimes" of Oliver North. Just imagine what the media could have done with what Charlie Wilson did had they known. So, in my mind, I believe that one should be skeptical of the news media, that conspiracies happen all the time in the "background" of the government, and there must be a lot of "fall guys" to purge the real issues from the public. Bottom line - even for people who don't like politics or political novels or books - this is THE book to read. It's more lively than history, especially since we lived these days. It is every bit as colorful as a full featured epic. Oh, yes, someone thought that it would make a good movie, too.
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14 people found this helpful
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Overall
- John
- 03-12-08
Excellent Book
Totally captivating. This was one that I couldn't put down...or turn off. Excellent story and fantastically read. Superb character development contributed greatly to the context of the story. Worth listening to again and again.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Sierra Bravo
- 12-03-07
amazing & scary
This is both one of the most amazing and scary books I have ever read. It is great reading if it were fiction. That it purports to be true is jaw dropping. All that stuff you learned in high school government class about checks and balances in the federal government; throw it out the window. If this book is half true our government is totally out of control. It is a great story, just do not forget to think about what it means. This is a must listen.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Dan
- 05-30-09
Among The Best Books You'll Ever Read
This is one of the most extraordinary books I've ever read.
From its horrifying opening scene -- which illustrates the utter brutality of the Mujahideen (with whom America allied itself in order to beat the Russians)... To its "everyman" Congressman... who somehow manages to become the almost sole sponsor of America's largest covert war... author George Crile paints a portrait which reads almost like a novel in the richness of its characters.
By the end of of this masterpiece, you just can't make up your mind whether Representative Charlie Wilson is a hero, or a loveable scoundrel.
The book's closing scene... from the porch of Wilson's condo, overlooking the Pentagon -- is just as unsettling as its opening. ... And it leaves you wondering... Did Charlie Wilson -- and his CIA associates -- save us from the Commies... or did they unwittingly set us down a path to an even more horrifying conflict?
It also poses the question, how on earth can a single Congressman -- from an obscure district in Texas -- set this country down such a momentous path with no one in America really noticing?
Even now -- 3 years after I finished this fabulous book -- I'm not quite sure of the answers.
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- Kirill
- 08-25-04
Very Interesting reading
Unique ideas, connections and interpretation of facts..Overall I loved it...
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- Cranky Greg
- 11-10-15
What a great story!
I really loved this book. And Charlie Wilson and Gust Avrakotos are my kinda guys. If you've seen the movie, well, it is lame compared to the book.
A great, improbable story filled with fascinating characters. Well written. The narrator was fabulous.
One thing that struck me about Charlie Wilson-he was an authentic man. No BS. What you saw was what you got. I think politicians would do themselves and their constituents a service by looking at Charlie. He had his downsides and his issues, but that's what made him human. He didn't hide it. Everyone knew, and that's why he kept getting elected to Congress from his Bible Belt district in East Texas. People trusted Charlie Wilson and when you read this book, you will see why.
And Gust Avrakotos was a great man, too. We need more Gusts in government today.
These guys and the other characters make this book such a great read. I wish it never ended!
Nothing better than a great story, impeccably portrayed by the author and performed well by the narrator.
After reading and listening to this book, I just wanted to have dinner with these two guys! That would be one heck of an entertaining evening. Sadly, they're gone, but happily this book tells their tale.
Awesome.
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- saw
- 04-20-16
Great book!
Very detailed look behind the curtains of how a secret government war is conducted.
This is essential reading for anyone that wants to understand America's relations with the middle East.
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- Chris
- 10-21-13
Fantastic
Would you listen to Charlie Wilson's War again? Why?
Probably. It's a great story. Just not sure if I want to spare the 20hr again. It was ceretainly worth the effort the first time around.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No way... Listened to it over a couple of weeks.
Any additional comments?
I found it was good to be listening this after Legacy of Ashes (NYT does CIA, what do you expect).... That book being a bit of a CIA beat down but also well worth a listen. Was good to hear some other sides of the story.
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- Fitness Celebrity
- 07-30-10
Rollicking!
George Crile glosses over the role played by the Reagan administration in the funding and encouragement of the Afghan "muj" in telling the story of Charlie Wilson's part in it, but that's a small quibble. The characters of Wilson, Joanne Herring and most impressive of all, Gust Avrakatos, leap out and grab your attention, affection and make this audiobook worth the three or so listenings I've made of it so far.
I have recommended this audio book to many people who are either military or political history buffs, and to those who just want to know why an audiobook might be worth the bother. The narration by Christopher Lane is terrific, using enough humor and vocal inflection to make the characters recognizable at once without sounding like a puppet show.
This is the book!
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