Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001

Edit of 20 Dec 07 to add links including books since published. On balance this is a well researched book (albeit with a Langley-Saudi partiality that must be noted), and I give it high marks for substance, story, and notes. It should be read in tandem with several other books, including George Crile's Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of How the Wildest Man in Congress and a Rogue CIA Agent Changed the History... Read Full Review

Since it appears that the U.S. is inexorably involved in this part of the world - a CNN commentator and former general predicted recently that the current war on terror was unlikely to end in our lifetime - I have departed from my usual reading habit of serious fiction and forced myself into a brave new world of non fiction, consuming Ghost Wars (Coll), Against All Enemies (Clarke) and Plan of Attack (Woodward) over the past... Read Full Review

Wow, I could not put this book down, It was so interesting and enthraling. If you want to know how our intelligence agencies opererate, from our spies on the ground to the budgetary procudures, this is all you need. Steve Coll is an amazing unbiased reporter that lets the reader draw his own conclusions, in many ways he just provides the facts. It starts with the soviet-afghan war, and our clear agenda to help the afgans... Read Full Review