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Ghost Wars
- The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 26 hrs and 48 mins
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Directorate S
- The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan
- Written by: Steve Coll
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 28 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
Resuming the narrative of his Pulitzer Prize-winning Ghost Wars, best-selling author Steve Coll tells for the first time the epic and enthralling story of America's intelligence, military, and diplomatic efforts to defeat Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan since 9/11.
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Great but I wish there was supplementary material
- By Amazon Customer on 2019-12-15
Written by: Steve Coll
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Blackwater
- The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army
- Written by: Jeremy Scahill
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A largely untold facet of the war on terror is the widespread outsourcing of military tasks to private mercenary companies. Accountable neither to the citizenry nor to standard military legal codes, these largely unregulated corporate armies are being entrusted with ever-greater responsibilities on behalf of the nation.
Written by: Jeremy Scahill
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The Afghanistan Papers
- A Secret History of the War
- Written by: Craig Whitlock, The Washington Post
- Narrated by: Dan Bittner
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Unlike the wars in Vietnam and Iraq, the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 had near-unanimous public support. At first, the goals were straightforward and clear: Defeat al-Qaeda and prevent a repeat of 9/11. Yet soon after the United States and its allies removed the Taliban from power, the mission veered off-course and US officials lost sight of their original objectives.
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Well done curated information
- By Jose Amaya on 2021-10-02
Written by: Craig Whitlock, and others
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Black Flags
- The Rise of ISIS
- Written by: Joby Warrick
- Narrated by: Sunil Malhotra
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Pulitzer Prize, General nonfiction, 2016. When Jordan granted amnesty to a group of political prisoners in 1999, it little realized that among them was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a terrorist mastermind and soon the architect of an Islamist movement bent on dominating the Middle East. In Black Flags, an unprecedented account of the rise of ISIS, Joby Warrick shows how the zeal of this one man and the strategic mistakes of Presidents Bush and Obama led to the banner of ISIS being raised over huge swaths of Syria and Iraq.
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it was okay
- By Jacynthe on 2018-06-11
Written by: Joby Warrick
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Six Days of War
- June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East
- Written by: Michael B. Oren
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 17 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In Israel and the West, it is called the Six Day War. In the Arab world, it is known as the June War or, simply, as "the Setback". Never has a conflict so short, unforeseen, and largely unwanted by both sides so transformed the world. The Yom Kippur War, the war in Lebanon, the Camp David accords, the controversy over Jerusalem and Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the intifada, and the rise of Palestinian terror are all part of the outcome of those six days.
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Good non-partisan narrative
- By Wade Robertson on 2023-04-29
Written by: Michael B. Oren
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Too Big to Fail
- The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System---and Themselves
- Written by: Andrew Ross Sorkin
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 21 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
A real-life thriller about the most tumultuous period in America's financial history by an acclaimed New York Times reporter. Andrew Ross Sorkin delivers the first true, behind-the-scenes, moment-by-moment account of how the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression developed into a global tsunami.
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- By R on 2018-12-15
Written by: Andrew Ross Sorkin
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Directorate S
- The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan
- Written by: Steve Coll
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 28 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Resuming the narrative of his Pulitzer Prize-winning Ghost Wars, best-selling author Steve Coll tells for the first time the epic and enthralling story of America's intelligence, military, and diplomatic efforts to defeat Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan since 9/11.
-
-
Great but I wish there was supplementary material
- By Amazon Customer on 2019-12-15
Written by: Steve Coll
-
Blackwater
- The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army
- Written by: Jeremy Scahill
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A largely untold facet of the war on terror is the widespread outsourcing of military tasks to private mercenary companies. Accountable neither to the citizenry nor to standard military legal codes, these largely unregulated corporate armies are being entrusted with ever-greater responsibilities on behalf of the nation.
Written by: Jeremy Scahill
-
The Afghanistan Papers
- A Secret History of the War
- Written by: Craig Whitlock, The Washington Post
- Narrated by: Dan Bittner
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Unlike the wars in Vietnam and Iraq, the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 had near-unanimous public support. At first, the goals were straightforward and clear: Defeat al-Qaeda and prevent a repeat of 9/11. Yet soon after the United States and its allies removed the Taliban from power, the mission veered off-course and US officials lost sight of their original objectives.
-
-
Well done curated information
- By Jose Amaya on 2021-10-02
Written by: Craig Whitlock, and others
-
Black Flags
- The Rise of ISIS
- Written by: Joby Warrick
- Narrated by: Sunil Malhotra
- Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Pulitzer Prize, General nonfiction, 2016. When Jordan granted amnesty to a group of political prisoners in 1999, it little realized that among them was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a terrorist mastermind and soon the architect of an Islamist movement bent on dominating the Middle East. In Black Flags, an unprecedented account of the rise of ISIS, Joby Warrick shows how the zeal of this one man and the strategic mistakes of Presidents Bush and Obama led to the banner of ISIS being raised over huge swaths of Syria and Iraq.
-
-
it was okay
- By Jacynthe on 2018-06-11
Written by: Joby Warrick
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Six Days of War
- June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East
- Written by: Michael B. Oren
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 17 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Israel and the West, it is called the Six Day War. In the Arab world, it is known as the June War or, simply, as "the Setback". Never has a conflict so short, unforeseen, and largely unwanted by both sides so transformed the world. The Yom Kippur War, the war in Lebanon, the Camp David accords, the controversy over Jerusalem and Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the intifada, and the rise of Palestinian terror are all part of the outcome of those six days.
-
-
Good non-partisan narrative
- By Wade Robertson on 2023-04-29
Written by: Michael B. Oren
-
Too Big to Fail
- The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System---and Themselves
- Written by: Andrew Ross Sorkin
- Narrated by: William Hughes
- Length: 21 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A real-life thriller about the most tumultuous period in America's financial history by an acclaimed New York Times reporter. Andrew Ross Sorkin delivers the first true, behind-the-scenes, moment-by-moment account of how the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression developed into a global tsunami.
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- By R on 2018-12-15
Written by: Andrew Ross Sorkin
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Lenin's Tomb
- The Last Days of the Soviet Empire
- Written by: David Remnick
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 29 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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In the tradition of John Reed's classic Ten Days That Shook the World, this best-selling account of the collapse of the Soviet Union combines the global vision of the best historical scholarship with the immediacy of eyewitness journalism.
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Fascinating
- By Leah Blain on 2019-06-20
Written by: David Remnick
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Why Nations Fail
- The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty
- Written by: Daron Acemoglu, James A. Robinson
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 17 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Brilliant and engagingly written, Why Nations Fail answers the question that has stumped the experts for centuries: Why are some nations rich and others poor, divided by wealth and poverty, health and sickness, food and famine?
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Interesting take with incomplete conclusions
- By John on 2018-08-29
Written by: Daron Acemoglu, and others
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The Looming Tower
- Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11
- Written by: Lawrence Wright
- Narrated by: Lawrence Wright
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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A sweeping narrative history of the events leading to 9/11, a groundbreaking look at the people and ideas, the terrorist plans and the Western intelligence failures that culminated in the assault on America. Lawrence Wright's remarkable book is based on five years of research and hundreds of interviews that he conducted in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sudan, England, France, Germany, Spain, and the United States.
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Why an Author Should Not Narrate Their Own Work
- By Amazon Customer on 2020-07-08
Written by: Lawrence Wright
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Parkland
- Birth of a Movement
- Written by: Dave Cullen
- Narrated by: Dave Cullen, Robert Fass
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
On the first anniversary of the events at Parkland, the acclaimed, New York Times best-selling author of Columbine offers an intimate, deeply moving account of the extraordinary teenage survivors who became activists and pushed back against the NRA and feckless Congressional leaders - inspiring millions of Americans to join their grassroots #neveragain movement.
Written by: Dave Cullen
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Private Empire
- ExxonMobil and American Power
- Written by: Steve Coll
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 24 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Steve Coll investigates the largest and most powerful private corporation in the United States, revealing the true extent of its power. ExxonMobil’s annual revenues are larger than the economic activity in the great majority of countries. In many of the countries where it conducts business, ExxonMobil’s sway over politics and security is greater than that of the United States embassy. In Washington, ExxonMobil spends more money lobbying Congress and the White House than almost any other corporation. Yet despite its outsized influence, it is a black box.
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Great listen
- By Anonymous User on 2023-06-22
Written by: Steve Coll
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The Wolfpack
- The Millennial Mobsters Who Brought Chaos and the Cartels to the Canadian Underworld
- Written by: Peter Edwards, Luis Najera
- Narrated by: Juan Chioran, Luis Najera
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Joined by award-winning Mexican journalist Luis Nájera, leading organized-crime author Peter Edwards introduces a motley assortment of millennial bikers, gangsters, and Mafia whose bloody trail of murders and schemes gone wrong led to the arrival in Canada of the world's most dangerous criminal organizations: the drug cartels of Mexico.
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Very good, especially if you know the area.
- By Todd M Hunt on 2021-10-31
Written by: Peter Edwards, and others
Publisher's Summary
Pulitzer Prize, General Nonfiction, 2005
Lionel Gelber Prize
New York Times Notable Book
The explosive first-hand account of America's secret history in Afghanistan.
With the publication of Ghost Wars, Steve Coll became not only a Pulitzer Prize winner, but also the expert on the rise of the Taliban, the emergence of Bin Laden, and the secret efforts by CIA officers and their agents to capture or kill Bin Laden in Afghanistan after 1998.
What the critics say
“Certainly the finest historical narrative so far on the origins of al Qaeda in the post-Soviet rubble of Afghanistan . . . Ghost Wars provides fresh details and helps explain the motivations behind many crucial decisions.”—The New York Times Book Review
“The CIA itself would be hard put to beat his grasp of global events . . . Deeply satisfying.”—The New York Review of Books
“A well written, authoritative, high-altitude drama with few heroes, many villains, bags of cash, and a tragic ending—one that may not have been inevitable.”—The Washington Post
More from the same
What listeners love about Ghost Wars
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- william gary irwin
- 2020-10-25
Honest and informative
Author had no agenda, just gave the facts which is rare these days, and adds value to the book.
3 people found this helpful
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- Fahd Baba
- 2022-11-14
Lose the accent
Great story. But the narrator does accents when quoting ethnic people. The accent is super bad and it’s distracting more than anything.
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- A
- 2022-02-19
great book for specific audience
this book is really good if you are interested in the story of politics and intelligence leading up to 9/11. due to the level of detail it might not be best suited for a general audience, though. that said of the books I've read on 9/11 this is def at the top. it is really interesting how Coll tells the story without talking about the actual events of the day. also the focus on ending it with Massoud's death is sad but the perfect way to finish this part of the story.
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- Ansel
- 2021-10-11
fascinating stuff
while its long and complicated, i never had trouble getting into it. its hard for me tell, but it seemed unbiased and objective, and presented the events clearly but with enough color that it wasnt dry. the only reason i gave four stars is that because a story with this scope and breadth of characters, if one is really to get a firm grasp, and the effort would be well spent, a list of the men and women involved and a brief description of their role and the dates of their involvement is absolutely necessary. that being said, the narrator did a great job of consistently pronouncing, or mispronouncing i cant tell, Arabic Afghani Pakistani Uzbek etc names throughout the book so there was no added confusion. what an unlucky country!
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- Joe
- 2013-11-08
An Exceptional Accomplishment
Ghost Wars may prove to be the best book I read in 2013. It tells the story of the CIA's involvement in Afghanistan from the Soviet Invasion to the terror attacks in 2001. But that's not all it is. You will meet the directors of the CIA and see how their personalities influence the agency. You will learn about the Washington political climate under different presidencies and see how they cripple any potential to cure Afghanistan of its extremism. You will watch how the outcast younger son of a prominent family, named Osama bin Laden, sets up an empire in the ruined countryside.
The writing avoids analysis until the end, letting you examine events as they unfold with amazing clarity and detail. The narration is crisp and exciting without being overly-dramatized. When the wrap up finally comes it is stunning and insightful. This is an amazing book, filled with knowledge, rich storytelling, and thoughtfulness. You deserve to read it.
43 people found this helpful
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- DS
- 2013-03-06
A PAINFUL RELIVING OF THE RUN-UP TO 9/11
Mistakes were made, by Bush 41, Clinton and Bush 43. Bush 41's policies put the Taliban in charge of Afghanistan, Clinton kept them there and Bush 43 was distracted by a VP and a Condi who were uninformed and uninterested. We armed the "resistance" fighters and abandoned them when the "resistance" got rid of the Russians. We relied on biased, self-serving "intelligence" from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, both countries supported the Taliban. We gave millions to Pakistan, much of which was diverted to personal accounts, and succeeded in tipping the balance toward the military intelligence side and away from the civil executive/legislative side, destabilizing a nuclear power.
Were there good outcomes? Well, the Russian economy imploded, the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Republic disintegrated. Would the Wall have fallen anyway? Maybe. We'll never know.
Good news? The Cold War was over. Bad news? We entered the era of terrorism. We don't know how this era will end but, thanks to this book, we know how it began.
Painful, depressing great read.
27 people found this helpful
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- rsberry
- 2012-08-25
Required Reading
What made the experience of listening to Ghost Wars the most enjoyable?
Like many others, I want to understand how the United States got into the current mess in Afghanistan. This is the first book I've read that provides, in a truly in depth and objective manner. the always ignored back story. Anyone who cares to voice an opinion on future policy decisions in the Middle East should be familiar with this book. The author's objective presentation makes the story just that much harder to hear.
What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?
The author's cold blooded description of the myriad ways in which the United States was manipulated by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia for more than 20 years.
Have you listened to any of Malcolm Hillgartner’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
I have,and enjoy his narration. For some reason however, in the first half of this book, sentences were often clipped off at the end, giving the reading a sort of chopped off sound. This problem seemed to disappear in the second half of the book.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No. I actually spent more than 6 months listening to this book, mostly in the car, and I'm glad I took the time to go through it slowly. The tragedy builds slowly, piece by piece, until the eve of 9/11.
Any additional comments?
No book since a "Bright, Shining Lie" by Neil Sheehan has made a greater impression on me in terms of historical understanding.
17 people found this helpful
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- Howard H. Shen
- 2012-05-01
great book, minor recording/narrating flaws
What made the experience of listening to Ghost Wars the most enjoyable?
great story telling, accurate and abundant information, unbiased reporting.
What aspect of Malcolm Hillgartner’s performance would you have changed?
the russian helicopter in the book is a Mil-17, through out the read, he reads it as an MiG 17. for someone with a decent military hardware background, it drove me nuts. couple of other similar misuse of technical terms.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
no
Any additional comments?
glitches in the recording, skipped lines and sentences. could be a bad burn to CD...
14 people found this helpful
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- Ben in Baltimore
- 2011-11-21
Interesting, in-depth book
This book offers a very in-depth look at U.S. involvement in Afghanistan prior to 9/11. The story comes across as factual and well-documented; I did not pick up any noticeable traces of a political ideology, just a well-reported story based on facts as presented by the author. The book is well read by Malcolm Hilgartner, to the extent that I would be more likely to purchase an audio book if he is the narrator. The technical production of the book is slightly lacking in a few spots where the audio stops abruptly and restarts, but overall it sounds good and I don't think anything is missed due to these small annoyances.
10 people found this helpful
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- joseph
- 2012-11-19
Outstanding
This is a wonderfully researched book. I listened to this and The Looming Tower in quick succession. I found it to be the far better of the two. Coll is insightful and is very careful to not overstep or over-interpret his source material. I find him trustworthy and honest and evenhanded. He is also a gifted writer. It was a great listen and was well performed by Malcolm Hillgartner.
7 people found this helpful
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- Cate Felder
- 2016-12-16
Excellent Modern History
This narrative is an absolute education in the roots of radical Islamist terrorism. As someone who was a teenager during the GWOT but too young to have comprehended the global terror threat (or even know the term "al Queda") before 9/11 brought it screaming into my consciousness, this book was an excellent way to educate myself on the causes and complications of the past 15 years of war. The story, like the terror threat, is global and teeming with distinct characters. It is heartbreaking to watch the CIA, National Security, and State Dept officials wrestle with they dilemnas that they did, only to realize the inevitablity of some of their choices(they would only have chosen differently if they had known about 9/11 years prior to its occurance), and the confounding arbitrariness of others.
Superb narration and engaging writing style throughout.
4 people found this helpful
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- Klas Mellbourn
- 2016-09-11
Fascinating background to 9/11
What was one of the most memorable moments of Ghost Wars?
Interesting detail of how first the US and Saudi Arabia supported the taliban, and later how Pakistan supported the Taliban and Bin Laden.
4 people found this helpful
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- Colin
- 2016-12-21
An excellent, eye-opening listen
This is an excellent choice for any fan of history. It is wonderfully detailed, clearly written and read, and totally engaging. If you are hoping to study this subject intently, I would recommend getting the actual book because the names can be easily muddled as the setting shifts around the globe.
3 people found this helpful
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- Ian K.
- 2021-09-29
bad narration
I just can't enjoy this guys narration. His mispronounced words, dialect, bad accents... just read it. Don't act it.
1 person found this helpful