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

Winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize

From the award-winning and bestselling author of Directorate S, the explosive first-hand account of America's secret history in Afghanistan

To what extent did America’s best intelligence analysts grasp the rising thread of Islamist radicalism? Who tried to stop bin Laden and why did they fail? Comprehensively and for the first time, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Steve Coll recounts the history of the covert wars in Afghanistan that fueled Islamic militancy and sowed the seeds of the September 11 attacks. Based on scrupulous research and firsthand accounts by key government, intelligence, and military personnel both foreign and American, Ghost Wars details the secret history of the CIA’s role in Afghanistan (including its covert operations against Soviet troops from 1979 to 1989), the rise of the Taliban, the emergence of bin Laden, and the failed efforts by U.S. forces to find and assassinate bin Laden in Afghanistan.

• Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan
• Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS
• The Art of Intelligence: Lessons from a Life in the CIA's Clandestine Service
• Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan
• The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11
• First In: An Insider's Account of How the CIA Spearheaded the War on Terror in Afghanistan
• Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History (Princeton Studies in Muslim Politics)
• Good Hunting: An American Spymaster's Story
• Safe for Democracy: The Secret Wars of the CIA
• The Craft of Intelligence: America's Legendary Spy Master on the Fundamentals of Intelligence Gathering for a Free World